English teacher education: Working with differentiation and multilingualism
The aim of this discussion session is to consider the challenges and opportunities of working with English language learning and teaching (ELLT) in teacher education for the compulsory school (Years 0-9). The rationale for the session stems from our own experiences and observations as teacher educators of ELLT, our interactions with colleagues and students, and our own research. We see a need to examine how we are preparing students to teach English in the increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse Swedish school. We plan to focus on two areas warranting discussion: differentiation and multilingualism. For each, we wish to explore best practices for our own teaching of a diverse student population as well as for how we may best prepare students for their future teaching in Swedish schools. First, we aim to discuss how teachers can work with differentiation to manage the needs, expectations, and emotions of high and low-proficiency English language learners. Second, we will consider the role of multilingualism in ELLT, especially in light of the new emphasis on multilingualism in the 2022 Swedish curriculum for the compulsory school. Both the role of students’ linguistic resources and their understanding of how to work with multilingual pupils in the English classroom will be in focus. We anticipate an open, engaging discussion with fellow teacher educators on the challenges and opportunities regarding differentiation and multilingualism, as well as an exchange of ideas and experiences of best practices that provide strategies for addressing each area in ELLT.