Based on the 2018 PISA ranking, German-speaking European countries continue to lag their OECD counterparts in reading and science. Reading comprehension is an important part of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), a key determinant for academic success in general and, more aptly, in science. To learn and understand science, one must ultimately master the language of science. Therefore, subject-specific and academic literacy are key to increasing educational opportunity and successful outcomes. Children from multilingual and/or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds face unique challenges in attaining scientific and academic language competence. The situation is compounded for many migrant students. In German-speaking countries, the correlation between student performance and socio-economic status is significantly above the OECD average. However, science teachers are not yet sufficiently aware that language may often be a stronger barrier to student achievement than the actual content. Many have had little or no preparation for providing the types of assistance that learners need to successfully learn academic content and skills through academic language while developing proficiency in academic language. Teachers in training are also often not adequately prepared for the increasing linguistic heterogeneity they will face in the classroom, both in multilingual and historically monolingual societies. Science teachers must acquire linguistically responsive pedagogical practices and the necessary language scaffolding skills to support their students’ learning. What makes the situation even more challenging is that there are few scientifically tested materials or measures to aid them. To address this educational gap, the project develops and evaluates lesson plans and strategies to bolster biology and chemistry students’ subject-specific and academic language competence and science teachers’ language awareness and their linguistic teaching skills. The project is innovative in that it not only combines both theory and practice but also transcends institutional and subject boundaries. Several times per year, university experts in education research, science education and language education convene with science and language teachers and teacher trainers in cross-disciplinary communities of practice. The project participants discuss, co-create and evaluate lesson plans and strategies suitable for implementing successful language-sensitive science teaching. The sensiMINT database provides teachers with access to existing language-oriented tasks for biology and chemistry classrooms. The sensiMINT materials include 60 biology and chemistry lesson plans aimed at students in the transitional period between lower and upper secondary education (years 8-10). The sensiMINT cluster of quality criteria is based on the extensive project experience and allows for assessment of successful language-sensitive teaching materials. The sensiMINT best-practice guide is a step-by-step manual on building cross-disciplinary teams to implement language-sensitive science teaching. The sensiMINT coaching curriculum is the first certification program for the systemic implementation of linguistically responsive STEM teaching. The "sensiMINT-School" certificate honours systematic teacher professionalisation and interinstitutional networking. The project’s innovative focus significantly reduces teachers’ time burden, the leading driver against the adoption of language-sensitive teaching. All materials and strategies developed in this project are practically oriented to best serve the teachers’ needs. To further lighten the teachers’ load, most multiplier events take place within schools, bringing the materials literally into their classrooms. This facilitates quicker adoption of the materials. The support of parents and colleagues from school boards and universities, who are also invited to the events, helps teachers to establish the strategies in their schools and disseminate them further. In addition, project members create CPD courses for the education departments of the smaller German-speaking speech communities in South Tyrol, East Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg to introduce the project outcomes to teachers in these locations. Acknowledging the significance of linguistically responsive science teaching for educational opportunity and equality, the consortium has established a broad network of associated partner institutions to disseminate project results and ensure lasting impact and sustainability. Schools, education departments, teacher associations, STEM networks and initiatives for supporting future STEM professionals accompany and support the project as critical friends and advertise the outputs throughout their own networks.
The overall aim of the project was the co-constructive development, testing and reflection of subject-specific linguistically responsive lesson concepts for the evaluation and further development of strategies for promoting: - the subject-specific and academic language skills of learners in biology and chemistry, - linguistic awareness and didactic professionalisation of STEM teachers, - the implementation of interdisciplinary teaching and interdisciplinary work in schools, - the convergence of didactic research and pedagogical teaching practice. The sensiMINT outputs address the central question that most often prevents linguistically responsive teaching: "Where do I find the time in class and for my preparation?" (Leisen 2020). - O 1 reduces the time spent searching for materials. - O2 and O3 provide ready-made lesson plans and a multi-perspective guide. - O4 helps to assess the quality of linguistically responsive materials. - O5 raises awareness, professionalises and provides concrete guidance for interdisciplinary cooperation. - O6 shows how linguistically responsive subject teaching can be systemically institutionalised in a sustainable way.
The idealistic goal of the sensiMINT project was to strengthen equal opportunities in education. International school performance studies have repeatedly shown that learners from socio-economically and educationally disadvantaged homes with and without a migration background achieve lower educational success. In the STEM subjects, a lack of subject-specific language skills, in particular, impedes successful outcomes for many learners. The effective design and long-term institutionalisation of subject-specific language-sensitive teaching requires not only closer cooperation between the subjects and between educational disciplines, but also between schools and universities. Teachers must be made aware at all stages that content learning and language learning are mutually dependent. They must be systematically trained in linguistically responsive and cross-disciplinary approaches to teaching and supported in their implementation by means of high-quality materials. The Erasmus+ programme facilitated the necessary interdisciplinary, interinstitutional and international cooperation so that the sensiMINT project can achieve a significant impact on the sustainable implementation of linguistically responsive teaching.