Katja Natalie Andersen

Evaluation of school tasks in the light of sustainability education: textbook research in science education in Luxembourgish primary schools

Abstract This article describes a research project that aimed to classify different types of sustainability-related school tasks in terms of two central approaches in primary school education: action-based and task-based learning. Using a textbook analysis approach, the article clarifies implicit and explicit forms of sustainability education in school tasks in Luxembourgish science textbooks for Grades 1–6. The study uses a two-step analysis: first, scanning textbooks on content relating to sustainability; and, second, evaluating the teaching practices associated with this content apparent in the textbooks. Step one identifies the school tasks in which sustainability content is implicitly or explicitly addressed while step two analyzes which forms of action-based and task-based learning occur in these sustainability-related school tasks. Based on the results two claims can be made: first, that there is very little sustainability-related content in Luxembourgish primary science textbooks, and those topics raised mostly relate to sustainability only indirectly; secondly, action-based and task-based learning are undervalued in the context of sustainability-related school tasks; neither of the two was commonly found in school tasks in sustainability education.

Translanguaging pedagogy in multilingual early childhood classes

This paper investigates translanguaging practices and pedagogy with very young children in the trilingual country of Luxembourg. Recent research has shown that in early childhood education in Luxembourg there is a focus on Luxembourgish to the exclusion of other languages and that this appears to exclude children with foreign language backgrounds from everyday institutional life. Our research asks how and in which forms can a translanguaging pedagogy offer young multilingual children opportunities to engage in literacy practices. Our empirical qualitative pilot study carried out among children aged 2 to 6 in Luxembourgish early childhood programs clarifies forms of translanguaging when instruction is accompanied by pictures and reading in German. The findings suggest that gesture and body language are part of translanguaging, providing multiple resources that enable the young multilingual learner to make meaning.