Promoting interculturalism in primary school children through the development of encountering skills: a case study in two Finnish schools

Abstract

The present article introduces diversity (educational, social and multicultural) of children as a resource in language teaching. Two English teachers with a total of 105 children of their language classes participated in the teaching experiment that was part of a nationwide research and development project in Finland. The aim was to develop conceptions and practices of intercultural language education and transform language curricula based on them. With the support of university researchers, the teachers experimented, reflected on, evaluated and developed such pedagogic action – pedagogy of intercultural encounters – through which they could meet the challenges of diversity in their classrooms. Good practices in teaching intercultural encountering skills were developed and seen essential for promoting identity development in language learning. Based on regular seminars where teachers' reports on their progress were discussed, reflected on and theoretically analysed, the teachers and researchers suggested justified improvements for language curricula.