Leveraging Linguistic Diversity in an Early Childhood Setting

With the rich fabric of diversity in our communities in Aotearoa, what are we doing to promote and leverage a child’s home language into the ‘everyday’?

In Aotearoa we have 3 official languages and there many more heritage languages living and thriving within our communities and homes.  Language development is the cornerstone of early literacy and as early childhood educators, it is important that we leverage every opportunity to grow the oral language development of the tamariki in our care.  It is important for all educators, managers and owners to understand the power of being bi and multilingual and have the tools to support language development in a multilingual setting.

In this interactive workshop Del Costello will:

• Challenge traditional views on language learning
• Outline the impact of deficit theorising around language, identity and culture
• Unpack practical ways the services can leverage the home language of tamariki for the benefit of everyone

Facilitator: Del Costello