MULTILINGUALISM AND INTERCULTURALISM AS PROFESSIONAL CAPITAL: THE MAKING OF A MODEL OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BORDER AREAS

Abstract

In many aspects of our lives nowadays, there are requirements for effective communication as a consequence of globalisation and coexistence in a multicultural and multilingual society. The expanding need for multilingual and intercultural communication occurs as a result of mobility and the spread of market employability within the European Union and beyond and, consequently, migrations of people because of better material living conditions and the revitalisation of some provinces and regions. The rapid development of information and communication technology, which eliminates local distance and encourages simultaneous communication through various media, he also become an important factor. In the age of globalisation, we can add another fact, that today more people than ever live in a nearby neighbourhood with different languages and cultures, many of them working together or having daily encounters. People are thus becoming more mobile, for both private and professional reason, and thus need to communicate in several languages. Knowledge of language allows for intercultural dialogue and encourages the willingness to coexist along with mutual respect. The learning and use of languages are fundamental to peaceful coexistence in the common European area, especially in those areas where languages and cultures have coexisted for centuries. Cooperation between schools and kindergartens in border areas has a long tradition in Slovenia. Recently, a new form of cooperation has been introduced, the so-called cross-border mobility, which goes beyond occasional meetings of cultural or sporting nature. Teachers who teach in the schools in border areas in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Croatia and Hungary are implementing professionally prepared learning mobility in neighbouring schools, and they are occasionally included in the regular educational programme. This mobility has extra significance for students because they develop multilingual and intercultural competences, they become acquainted with their peers and teachers from neighbouring countries and with new teaching strategies and, at the same time, they also improve subsequent employment prospects. With the implementation of multilingual and intercultural educational practice in the neighbouring schools, mobile teachers are developing their professional capital, which is reflected in the intercultural and multilingual awareness, personal growth, upgrading of methodical-didactic knowledge, knowledge of the neighbour language and learning about the educational system and curriculum of the neighbouring country. 1 METHODOLOGY The presenting model of teacher education in primary schools in border areas based on the results of empirical research (Pevec Semec, 2017) in which we focus on: • Analysis of the situation of cooperation between the border area primary schools in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. We were interested in the teaching of foreign and neighbour languages at schools and the existing practice of cross-border cooperation. • The range of possibilities provided for mobile teachers. • Position of the headmasters on multilingualism and interculturalism. • Developing a model of educational module for mobile teachers. The research was undertaken methodologically, by combining empirical-analytic and qualitative research. We believe that both research methods are well intertwined and complementary. In research participated principals of elementary schools, which are distant from the national border up to 25 km. Proceedings of EDULEARN19 Conference 1st-3rd July 2019, Palma, Mallorca, Spain ISBN: 978-84-09-12031-4 1709 Table 1: Number of schools (f) and structural percentages of schools (f%) by country.