Making space for the languages spoken by New Scots in Scottish Education
Published: 4 October 2024
Commentary, Event recording
On 13th June 2024, the Welcoming Languages project hosted a workshop to discuss including languages spoken by refugee pupils and families in Scottish education. Attendees from practitioner and governmental organisations explored resources, challenges, and next steps for this integration.
On 13th June 2024, the Welcoming Languages project hosted a workshop to explore expanding the languages taught in Scottish schools to include those spoken by refugee pupils and families, referred to as New Scots in the Scottish Government’s Refugee Integration Strategy. Representatives from education and government discussed the current resources, challenges, and potential next steps for achieving this inclusion.
Participants highlighted existing assets, such as government policies (e.g., the 1+2 Language Approach, GIRFEC policy, and New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy), as well as international frameworks like the UNCRC and UNESCO, which support linguistic diversity and inclusion. Community resources, including heritage language schools and the knowledge of multilingual staff, students, and families, were seen as key tools to further this effort.
However, challenges were noted, including budget cuts, increased demands on teachers, and a lingering monolingual approach in both policy and practice. Solutions discussed included better sharing of resources, using the linguistic skills of school communities, and improving teacher training to address the importance of languages and multiculturalism. Participants also emphasised the need for school leaders to advocate for New Scots' languages and engage with pupils, parents, and the wider community.
The workshop reflected strong commitment from various organisations to push forward with this initiative, recognising the vital role of language in supporting integration and creating inclusive, welcoming schools. The Welcoming Languages team will continue working with attendees to maintain momentum, aiming for positive outcomes in education and social cohesion, which is achieved also through multilingual processes, as emphasised by the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy.
Read more about the workshop on the Welcoming Languages website.
Welcoming Languages report launch
On the 13th of December 2022 the Welcoming Languages team celebrated the Report Launch at the ARC (University of Glasgow). Read more here
First published: 4 October 2024