«MCMC Conference» Meeting the Challenge of the Multicultural Classroom An EU collaborative project between Southwark (UK) and the Algarve (PT) Goldsmiths, University of London, New Academic Building, Room LG02 26 April Context and Decisions Objectives and Outcomes of activities República Checa Turquia Resources and Materials produced Impact on Learning School: Ilderton Primary School, Southwark, London Teacher/s: Mrs Itoro-obong Akie Year group taught: Key stage 1 (Reception) My objective as a participant in this course is to enhance my skills in facilitating an inclusive classroom where ALL children are able to develop their self confidence and positive social skills as well as access learning to the best of their ability. Objective As a result of these activities, children will be aware of some of the things that make them unique and be able to talk about some of the similarities and differences in relation to their culture and that of their friends and families. During the presentations, children were able to identify a couple of names that had the same meaning even though they were in different languages. Helping them establish common grounds despite their differences Different parents reported that the Name homework sparked off their children’s curiosity and interest about their own culture and identity. This was evident in class as we observed children engaging in conversations about their own culture. Children also talked a lot about themselves as babies and this interest tied in well with our learning about the Christmas story and the human lifecycle. Children were able to link the learning to themselves as individuals and easily identify similarities between their own experiences and that of their peers. This activity served as a platform for subsequent Talk home work where children developed their ability to articulate their thoughts, link sentences and talk about their experiences. EAL children have benefited immensely from these activities as they have had repeated opportunities to listen to spoken English being modelled and modified by their peers and adults. They are comfortable to have a go because of the friendly and familiar context. Impact on Learning This is a reception class of 28 children between the ages of 4 and 5. The children are of British, Lithuanian, Chinese, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Indian, Caribbean, and Polish backgrounds. Most children have English as an additional language and a couple of them came in with no English language at all. Context Name Homework: I explained to the children that we were going to explore the meanings of our names and the languages our names come from. Their ‘talk homework’ for that week was to ask their parents about the meaning of their names in order to share with the class. I modelled the activity by telling them the meaning of my name, what language it is in, and which country the language is spoken. This really got them interested and excited. I sent a letter to parents explaining the learning opportunities in the home work and what sort of information they need to discuss with their children. I also informed children and parents of the date when children can present their findings about their names to their peers. Methodology On the day of the presentation The children were eager to share their findings with the rest of us. Some children were able to recall the relevant information about their names and speak confidently in front of the class. I displayed a world map on the IWB and pointed out the country where the Languages mentioned are spoken. I recorded each child’s presentations using a digital camera. Results