In collaboration with the British Council, UKFIET convened a full day’s workshop on 19 March 2024 in London. The day was organised by academics and practitioners who are often frustrated by the limited attention paid to the language in which children learn and are assessed, educators teach and resources are written.
The British Council prepared a short video for the event to show how important it is to place language more centrally on the agenda as children simply cannot learn in a language they do not understand.
Four groups then explored how language issues interact with one of four core areas of work and research:
- assessment and evaluation,
- the socio-emotional aspects of learning and teaching,
- education in crisis contexts, and
- foundational learning and transitions between stages of education.
The day mainly focused on discussions about key challenges and affordances related to language and the identification of potential ways forward. It was a very busy day, with vibrant discussions. Participants represented most of the UKFIET member organisations and several more.
A blog series will follow from the discussion points gathered from the four groups so do watch this space!
A few participants agreed to be filmed to give their response to a key question:
What do you think can be done (generally or within your organisation) to place language more centrally in global educational programming and/or research?
Angeline Barrett, University of Bristol
Purna Kumar Shrestha, VSO
Saalim Koomar, Jigsaw/ Ed Tech Hub
Pat Kwok, University of Cambridge
Mercy Martins, University of Bath
Annette Zhao, Jigsaw/Ed Tech Hub
Maen Al Awes, Oxford Brookes University
