Multilingual authors ‘standing taller’ in arts-rich translanguaging spaces

Multilingual authors ‘standing taller’ in arts-rich translanguaging spaces
15 February 2024, 4:30pm – 5:30pm, Online

Summary

In this professional learning webinar, Dr Julie Choi and Dr Rafaela Cleeve Gerkens introduced us to some of their recent work around translanguaging in collaboration with community organisation Kids’ Own Publishing. They began with a discussion around what teachers might already do in their own classrooms to bring students’ home language into their learning. They then provided us with some practical and visual examples of a 6-week case study that involved year 4 EAL students participating in a bookmaking experience. Julie and Rafaela discussed how to foster students’ identities as resourceful multilingual writers and the importance of using arts-rich experiences. They also allowed participants to reflect on any challenges they have encountered when drawing on plurilingual strategies. The evidence highlighted how translanguaging and playful multimodal opportunities can support and lead language interactions where students can build their identities in the classroom. Thank you to both Julie and Rafaela on a very informative and useful session!

Recording