Training teachers for multilingual primary schools in Europe: key components of teacher education curricula

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines the content of teacher education curricula provided by universities located in European multilingual border regions of Austria, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia with the aim to reveal the key components of primary teacher education curricula for multilingual schools and compare them against the EU guidelines to teacher training for multilingual schools. The curricula under comparative analysis are offered by universities or teacher training centres located in European border regions, which have extensive trilingual working experience with state languages, languages of ethnic minorities and the English language. The findings highlight common areas of pre-service teacher training for multilingual schools in European multilingual areas, thus providing an evidence-based insight into curriculum design for teacher training for multilingual schools. Designing such curricula is topical in view of growing multilingualism and multiculturalism in European education.