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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1408452
This article is part of the Research Topic Social and Affective Domain in Home Language Development and Maintenance Research View all 10 articles

Model for Home-Preschool Continuity in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Settings

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Oranim Academic College, Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel
  • 2 School of Educational Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    With the advent of international freedom of movement, we are witnessing a rapid influx of children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds in mainstream preschools. Preschool education scholars have argued that teachers must work collaboratively with these children's families to support their “linguistic security” (Bergeron-Morin et al., 2023, p. 29) and well-being. The paper presents a conceptual model integrating linguistically and culturally responsive teaching with family funds of knowledge, language education, and family language policies. It highlights the interaction between these constructs that may lead to home-preschool continuity. The model is firmly grounded in three theoretical perspectives: Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model, which emphasizes the importance of the environment in a child's development; Epstein’s (2001) model of types of parental involvement, which highlights the various ways parents can be involved in their child's education; and the concept of agency in interactions between teachers and parents, which underscores the importance of mutual understanding and collaboration between these two agents (Schwartz, 2018; 2022; 2024). The model has the potential to guide research focusing on parents' and teachers' agency in enacting language policy and addressing cultural values. With its transformative potential, this model opens horizons for practical solutions for the interaction between these agents.

    Keywords: family language policy (FLP), language education policy in ECEC, home-preschool continuity, - linguistically and culturally diverse children, linguistically and culturally responsive teaching

    Received: 01 Apr 2024; Accepted: 07 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Schwartz and Ragnarsdóttir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mila Schwartz, Oranim Academic College, Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel

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