Proposal for multi-lingual curriculum framework for school based in University Campus of Etterbeek, anchored on the narrative of the Zinneke - a mut, an outsider, an adapter.

1. a zinnekeapproach
to curriculum
development
Presentation by Luís Pinto
MSc Educational Sciences
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

2. Opportunity
• Conversion of Federal
Police Barracks
• Urban reform of one of the
cities priority poles
• International
“Learning Hub”
• Bringing together
education, research,
business and communities
• A multilingual primary
school?

3. relationships
environments
policies
Ideologies
students
Bronfenbrenner, 1980

4. Brussxelles:
City of Contrasts

5. students
• Language
-- Schooling language
-- Home language
-- Bilingual households
• Cultural heritage
-- Meaning making
-- History and Science teaching
• Socio-economic status
-- Geographic distributed
-- Poverty = early school leaving

6. relationships
• Teachers
-- Torn between demands
-- Isolated
-- Biased or disconnected
• Parents
-- Variable engagement
-- Stress

7. environments
• School
-- Overloaded
• Neighbourhood
-- Diverse venues
-- Community-based organisations
-- Universities

8. policies & ideologies
• Educational policies
-- Standardisation
-- Competition
-- Education = Panacea
• Political agendas
-- Language communities
-- Communitarism?
• Worldview
-- Fragmentation
-- Bias (urban, privilege)
-- “Deficit” mentality

9. ZinnekeA word in Brussels dialect describing a
mixed-breed mutt.
Claimed by Brusselers – as to celebrate
their multicultural background and
current ethnic diversity.
DNA of a Zinneke:
• Celebrate diversity
• Turn weakness into strength
“Diversity: the art of thinking
independently together”
— Malcolm Forbes

10. Theoretical
Background
holistic
education
area-based
curriculum
multilingual
education
inquiry
learning
Living Systems Pespective

11. Information
Living System
Identity
(DNA)
Maturana & Varela, 1980
Geisen, 2013
Essence of Learning
in a Living System
Information

12. Information
Living System
Identity
(DNA)
Maturana & Varela, 1980
Geisen, 2013
Essence of Learning
in a Living System
Information
Role of Teacher:
facilitates learning process
with tools and activities.

13. Principles of
Living Systems
Implications
in Education
Interdependence
Integrity
Feedback (Energy Flow)
Purpose
Generative Diversity
• Every learner is unique.
• Locus of learning is in the learner, and
engages the whole person.
• Quality of relationships with human and
physical environments are foundational.
• Everyone is a learner.
• Diversity is a given and essential for
sustainability.
• We learn as individuals and as communities,
in a constant interplay with the systems we
inhabit.
• Every learner constantly seaks meaning
and purpose in their learning.
• Continuous feedback offers a sense of
direction to the learner. It comes from every
element in the system.
Nested

14. Holistic Education
• Interconnectedness (Wholeness)
• Pluralism and uniqueness
• Quality of relationships
• Participation, and centrality of experience
• Spirituality

15. Area-based
Curriculum
Multilingual
Education
• Abrupt and premature transition from
mother tongue to schooling in second
language increases the chances of losing
first language and hinders learner’s self-
confidence, eventually leading to loss of
motivation and early school leaving;
• Second language learning is not affected
by instruction in mother tongue. Fluency
and literacy in mother tongue constitute
an important cognitive and linguistic
foundation supporting a quicker acquisition
of a second language (Ball, 2011);
• Learning in mother tongue increases
school attainment (Kosonen, 2005) and
parent engagement in school community
(Benson, 2002) - particularly for
disadvantaged groups;
• address the specific history, socio-economic
context, needs and resources of the locality
• co-designed and co-developed by the
students and school in partnership with
community partners (including parents)
• students are engaged as partners in
curriculum development (specially those
least engaged)
• teachers take responsibility for ensuring
statutory curriculum requirements
• critical approach to the relationship between
the local, national and global dimensions of
learning
• everywhere in the locality can be a learning
environment. Area is seen as resource, not
“deficit”.

16. Reflection
Paying
Attention
Empathy
Relaxation
(Holistic)
Sensory
Awareness
Discerning
Patterns &
Systems
Listening
Subtle
Sensing
Inquiring
Holistic
Learning
Litera
cy•Nu
m
eracy •
Well-bein
g
•
Learning to
Know and Learn
Learning
to Do
Learning
to Live
Together
Learning
to Be and
Become
Zinne
keLearning Community
NationalLea
rning Standards • European core com
p
etenceframeworkforLifelongLearnin
g
Area-based
Curriculum
Multilingu
alEducation
Inquiry/Project
-basedlearning

17. Creating a Team
Recruitment of teachers, student
support, secretariat reflects local
knowledges and identities.
The team includes a parent and
community engagement coordinator,
student support staff and inclusive/
special education specialists.
Connecting to the Environment
The school staff creates gatherings
to listen to students, parents,
community-based organisations
about the school curriculum.
Creating a Meaningful Curriculum
Teachers develop the curriculum in a retreat,
to define instructional strategies, exchange
methods and select school-wide themes.
They also Wdefine decision-making processes,
and structures of support for professional and
personal development.
Building the Foundation
The first weeks are dedicated to
creating ties between all school
members, and planning the year
with the students, including
self-monitoring mechanisms.
Inquiry Learning
Learning happens through
collaborative projets around
focus and context questions.
Subject-mater at the service of
student’s research process.
School-wide Themes
Whole school develops the
same theme, at different levels
of complexity
Different grades have
vertical alignment around
underpinning patterns
Local Partnerships
Parents as teacher support,
community-based
organisations delivering
workshops, university students
delivering part of curriculum,
experts offer input to teachers
on specific cases.
Holistic Assessment
Portfolio-based assessment, with end of the
year project presentation to committee with
parents, teachers, peers and external guest;
Continuous conversations about learning,
with qualitative feedback;
Complying to requirements of standardised
testing
Closing a Cycle
Final teacher retreat to evaluate
the school year, celebrate
achievements, letting go and
planting the seeds for the next
year.
Celebrating Learning
Looking back to take stock of the learning
but also evaluate the process for oneself,
peers and teachers.
Community of Practice
Teachers meet regularly to discuss
student cases, instructional challenges
and seek emotional support.
Parents are seen as partners in the co-
education of students.
A Year at Zinneke School...

18. Focus
Question
Learning to
Learn & Know
(Cognitive Skills)
Learning
to Do
(Resolute Skills)
Learning to
Live Together
(Relational Skills)
Learning to
Be and Become
(Interpretative Skills)
Inquiry-based
Learning

19. How do
communities
work?
What is a community?
What is the history of
my community?
How do communities
help make lives better?
e.g., volunteer day in a
community-based centre
e.g., research books and old
newspapers with help of university
students or older students.
What connects me
to my community?
What do I share?
What is my place in
my community?
e.g., interview
elders and
family. Talk
about shared
qualities.
e.g., personal
collage,
text (or
other) about
purpose and
belonging

20. Pitfalls
• Overwhelmed teachers
• Resistance to change (teachers and
parents)
• Partial engagement of parents and
communities
• Lack of access to expertise (e.g.,
inclusive education, language)
• Trend towards standardisation
• Political landscape

21. Thank you.
“Learning is a
treasure that
will follow
its owner
everywhere.”
— Chinese Proverb