Inclusion in Dutch bilingual education: from elitist to egalitarian?

• In Event: Charting New Paths Towards Equity and Inclusion: Transforming Environments for All Learners

Abstract

The study investigates Dutch bilingual schools’ conceptualisations of inclusion and explores how these linguistically and culturally diverse schools implement inclusive education. Bilingual education (BE) is a common practice in many settings across the globe but takes on very different forms in each setting or region. In the US, bilingual education often entails an emancipatory component for minority students (Flores & García, 2017) and focusses on proficiency in English and an immigrant language, mainly Spanish. In European settings, BE has also been lauded for its potential to provide rich educational opportunities for diverse learners (Coyle et al., 2010; Pérez Cañado, 2020), but it mostly focused on English, alongside proficiency in large European languages. As such, European BE often serves privileged groups (Pérez Cañado, 2022; Somers, 2018). Research into Dutch BE indicated gains in English proficiency (Verspoor et al., 2015), motivation and sense of achievement (Denman et al., 2018; Mearns et al., 2020), but historically it has been adopted by schools to attract high-achieving learners that acquire Dutch and English (Weenink, 2005).

Due to its recent shift towards global citizenship, Dutch BE could also be used to educate children of more diverse backgrounds, such as minority or minoritised communities (Duarte, 2022). However, how bilingual schools shape inclusive forms of education has been under-researched in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands (Denman et al., 2023).
The current study investigates to what extent linguistically and culturally diverse bilingual schools in the Netherlands implement inclusive education. 8 interviews were held with teachers from 3 schools and a survey was conducted with 197 pupils to explore their experiences with inclusive education in BE. Through thematic analyses (Braun & Clarke, 2006) of the interview data and triangulation with the student questionnaires, we found that some forms of inclusive education are implemented to a considerable extent in these Dutch bilingual schools. It is mainly realized through fostering inclusive learning environments and by discussing socially relevant themes. Additionally, teachers indicate using the cultural diversity of their students, but this is not recognized by the pupils. Pupils’ linguistic diversity is not utilised, according to both pupils and teachers. We also found differences in culturally and linguistically responsive teaching; the group of students with a migration background perceived their culture to be reflected in BE significantly less than students without migration backgrounds, implying that there is limited scope to use students’ non-Dutch backgrounds and home languages in BE. It is also notable that BE students barely perceived culturally responsive teaching, even though all teachers indicated to use this approach in their classes.
Linguistically and culturally diverse Dutch bilingual schools can provide a suitable place to shape inclusive education, although there are areas for improvement. Contrary to its elitist nature (Denman et al., 2023; Pérez Cañado et al., 2022), BE could become more egalitarian by further developing culturally and linguistically responsive approaches that address the specific needs of minority pupils. In sum, our findings highlight how Dutch BE can address a more linguistically culturally diverse group of pupils in the Netherlands and beyond.

Author

• Joana Duarte, University of Groningen