Multilingual education - a necessity to transform education

Published: 22 February 2023

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How multilingual education can impact and improve education and wider society was highlighted on UNESCO International Mother Language Day.

On International Mother Language Day, UNESCO hosted a face-to-face event on multilingual education to explore the potential of multilingualism to transform education from a lifelong learning perspective and in different contexts.

Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts (RILA), presented research findings from her own work and the many projects in the UNESCO Chair team. She also officially began her work on the new UNESCO Policy Guidelines on Education for a Multilingual World.

The UNESCO Chair (RILA) research supports learning from contexts which have long-term refugee and migratory experiences and where resilience has been developed, often in the face of overwhelming linguistic and cultural destruction. Working with cross-sectorial partners, the team engages in research and advocacy for creative and artistic approaches to integration, which sustain linguistic and cultural diversity, foster creativity and intercultural capabilities and promote peace.

International Mother Language Day 2023 had three interconnected themes:

  • Enhancing multilingual education as a necessity to transform education in multilingual contexts from early childhood education and well beyond
  • Supporting learning through multilingual education and multilingualism in our fast-changing global contexts and in crisis situations including emergencies contexts
  • Revitalizing languages that are disappearing or are threatened with extinction

Free course on Multilingual Learning for a Globalised World

To learn more about multilingual education and how it can impact and improve education and wider society, try the Glasgow University free online course.

You will explore how people’s language practice and the personal connection people have to the language(s) they speak provoke important philosophical and pedagogical questions around the ways we form personal relationships, engage in business relations and view the world around us.

See more about Multilingual Learning for a Globalised World

First published: 22 February 2023

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