This is the second of a series of blogs documenting our National Priorities Project journey in thinking about Interculturality and how it meshes with the cogs of language learning. I proposed examining our French Exhibition where every pupil creates an artwork, writes about it in French, and then the paying public come to see their work. I wrote here on the Exhibition and the questions around whether it drives learning. But does it count as "Interculturality"?
Some members of the department suggested boosting the Cultural content of the unit, with more texts or videos exploring art and artists. And this is certainly something we can develop - always bearing in mind how such texts interface with language learning.
But this was not my primary interpretation of Interculturality. I wanted to use the project as an example of pupils taking on a new language as part of growing up in a wider world where English is just one of many languages. To show them that languages have a place starting right here in their own community and can be a part of their own lives.
This interpretation was firmed up at the National Priorities Project launch day at UCL in June. Interculturality is about our pupils stepping through a "sliding door" into a multicultural and multilingual world. It is NOT about looking through a window at other cultures. It's the idea of "otherness" that we are trying to escape from. Aspects of cultures may seem exciting and "exotic" from our perspective. And we juggle between the idea that people are different and people are all the same. Our project is part of an evolution of our pupils' identity. Not just how they see the world and their place in it, but how they see themselves.
Lovely to have that defined. But does it matter for language learning? There are some clues in this post on the importance of creating meaning. But that is the question we are seeking to answer...
Except...!
Except that the other big insight from the day at UCL, is that we are not trying to answer all the questions. We are not going to solve the dichotomies in language teaching between grammar and communication, or between accuracy and creativity. What we are looking for are experiences and insights to share.
Next post: The communicative continuum.
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