CLASSROOM PEDAGOGY
Cultural threads in three primary schools
Introducing a critical cosmopolitan frame
This paper explores headteachers’ and teachers’ perceptions of foreign languages(FL) and cultural learning in
three primary schools in areas of disadvantage in England. Drawing upon a new theoretical frame for primary languages, Critical
Cosmopolitanism (Delanty, 2006; Beck and Sznaider,
2006) and The Grammar of Culture (Holliday, 2018), we argue that the grand
narrative of a target language inhabited by a target culture is outdated and approaches to cultural learning in primary schools
could lead the way. There is substantial evidence that most learners find language lessons fun, particularly activities such as
songs, stories and intercultural events (Driscoll et al., 2004, 2014; Cable et al. 2010). The discourse on conditions for
inclusive practice is less commonplace and little is known about FL learning in areas of high deprivation (Nikolov & Mihaljević Djigunović, 2011). Teachers and headteachers in this study were committed to
cultural learning and staff adopted creative approaches to teaching. The findings, however, also indicate that traditional notions
of a mono or homogenised national culture with associated stereotypes linger in teachers’ framing of FL. There exists a need for a
more personalised approach to cultural learning drawing upon children’s own cultural experiences. Data was analysed thematically
following strict ethical guidelines and all names were anonymised to ensure confidentiality.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Context of the study
- Essentialist language and culture narrative
- Critical cosmopolitan narrative
- Ideological construction
- Cultural prejudice
- The monolingual, monocultural fallacy
- Moving from blocks to thread
- A richer picture
- Searching for threads
- Interculturality
- Methodology
- Findings
- Profile of foreign languages
- A prevailing sense of national culture
- Connecting cultural threads across the curriculum
- Global issues
- British values
- Conclusion
-
References
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