Reconstructing science education within the language I science relationship

Our research is embedded in the multilingual national context of Luxembourg, a small diverse country in Western Europe, and as such our research participants are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). Luxembourg’s public schools reflect the diversity of the country, with 44% of students identifying as a nationality other than Luxembourgish, and 55% speaking a first language other than Luxembourgish (Ministère de l’éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse [MENJE], 2015). Certainly, students draw on a wide variety of resources as they make meaning in science, and a key resource in this process of meaning making is language, which serves to mediate learning as well as position participants in the learning process. However, for students with proficiencies in languages other than the ones used for instruction in schools (such as the students we work with), the nuances of how language(s) can serve as resource(s) for learning are crucial for researchers and teachers to consider and understand. Science, language, and learning are interwoven, connected, and we believe, inseparable, to the processes of science education. In this chapter we use a critical lens to deconstruct the use of language(s) in science education as we address the overarching question posted by the title of this section, “In what ways does language affect (and is affected by) the science educational process?” Throughout this process of deconstruction, we address several critical questions that arise from our research and lived experiences connected to Reconstructing Science Education within the Language | Science Relationship Reflections from Multilingual Contexts sara e. d. wilmes, christina siry, roberto gómez fernández, and anna maria gorges c h a p t e r n i n e t e e n 254 | sara e. d. wilmes et al. the relationship between science education and language. Specifically, we address the following interrelated questions: • Who decides which languages are used in classrooms? • How can we create classroom spaces that value diverse student resources? • What is the relationship between language used in science education, power, and agency