The ALCOR Project: Building Parent/Teacher Connections Through Digital Multilingual Learning is a Strategic Partnership of six research institutes, non-governmental organizations and an education policy network from four European countries: the Netherlands, Croatia, Estonia and Italy. The objective is to support linguistically disadvantaged primary school learners in Europe who are at risk of falling even further behind their peers as a result of COVID-19 school closures. ALCOR is a follow-up of the AVIOR project, both spin-offs of the Sirius Network on Migrant Education. Like Avior and Sirius, Alcor is the name of a bright star. It is in fact part of a binary star which was named in Arabic سها Suhā/Sohā, meaning the ‘forgotten one’ or the ‘neglected one’; a reference to Mizar, its much brighter partner star. While Mizar symbolizes the language of schooling, ALCOR refers to the languages that migrant and minority children speak at home and which are frequently unseen, unheard and neglected in the classroom. A missed opportunity as an increasing body of research shows that rather than a problem or deficit, students’ linguistic diversity should be welcomed as a valuable resource for learning new content, new languages and as a way to enhance participation and inclusion of both students and their parents into the school community. The sudden shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to build teachers’ capacity in three ways: (1) the use of digital resources and blended learning; (2) integrating home languages in teaching strategies and (3) engaging plurilingual parents through the use of multilingual (digital) learning resources. with the aim of fostering migrant and minority students students’ sense of belonging, self-confidence and identity. The AVIOR-project (2016-2019) was a pilot project using open source digital bilingual materials (in the home language and the school language) as a tool to build connections between teachers and parents of plurilingual children. AVIOR resulted in improved parental involvement, greater motivation of students and also gave rise to the inclusion of ‘hard-to-reach’ parents including parents from Roma and newly arrived migrant communities. Having witnessed the success of this method, the ALCOR-project will build on and expand the results of AVIOR with four main activities: 1. An intensive train-the-trainer peer-learning programme for teachers; 2. Parent/teacher Co-Creation Workshops and Language Friendly Learning festivals; 3. Production of white board animations that visualize how home language integration and parental involvement may result in student well-being and academic success through the use of multilingual learning resources. 4. Creation of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) aimed at developing a ‘language friendly’ mindset and enhancing teacher competence in forging effective teacher/parent connections through home language integration and digital technology. Expected results include: • A core group of eight primary school teachers in four countries trained and prepared to guide their colleagues in creating language-friendly blended learning environments in their schools with full involvement of the parent community; • Over 60 parents in four countries from linguistically minoritized backgrounds actively involved in the school community, having gained greater insight into their own role in enhancing their children’s learning and have acquired practical experience in developing multilingual (digital) learning resources in partnership with teachers. • More than 2000 teachers, teacher trainers, school leaders and education policy makers across Europe with enhanced awareness and understanding of the links between home language integration and parental engagement to achieve social inclusion, student well-being and academic success including the powerful role of multilingual learning resources in forging teacher/parent connections.
Our aim was to enhance teachers' skills in digital learning, plurilingual pedagogies, and involving parents. • They grasp the significance of parents as vital partners and effective engagement methods. • They now possess the ability to incorporate web-based learning into their teaching approaches. • They can train and aid colleagues in creating 'language friendly' environments with strong parental support. Parents from diverse backgrounds are now more engaged in the school community. • They better understand their role in their children's school experience and well-being. • They've acquired skills to collaborate effectively with teachers using multilingual digital resources. Across Europe, educators, trainers, leaders, and policymakers recognize the importance of including plurilingual learners' mother tongue/home languages in primary education. They also value parental engagement for social inclusion, student well-being, and academic success. Teachers and educators have successfully finished a Massive Online Course (MOOC) on Strengthening Teacher/Parent Connections.
European classrooms are becoming increasingly multilingual and culturally diverse. Yet, most education systems in Europe are characterized by a monolingual ‘mind set’, with teachers who are ill prepared to teach students with diverse cultural, socio-economic and plurilingual backgrounds. Our objective was to support linguistically, socially and economically disadvantaged primary school learners in Europe who are at risk of falling even further behind their peers as a result of COVID-19 school closures. The ALCOR-project has giving the much wanted opportunity for European teachers to follow an intensive train-the-trainer teacher programme and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Both are aimed at building professional teacher competence in three areas: (1) digital and blended learning, (2) plurilingual pedagogies and (3) engaging plurilingual parents through the use of multilingual (digital) learning resource.