Page 334 - Pedagoška vizija / A Pedagogical Vision

Blaž Klasinc and Mojca Žefran

creative in such activities’ (Interviewee 10). Another closely related challenge,
proposed by five participants, is the lack of time on the part of the teachers
and the extra work that is involved in planning additional activities to pro-
mote multilingualism and multiculturalism. Finally, four respondents raised
the issue of a number of preschool teachers refusing to encourage multi-
lingualism and multiculturalism in kindergarten due to their own negative
attitudes towards the subject, as well as their lack of readiness for adapting
their whole syllabus for only a few children, or as one of the participants
stated: ‘I would point to some educators who, because of their own views
and attitudes, do not want to include this content or otherwise adapt their
work for some children’ (Interviewee 13).

Conclusion
Given the growing acknowledgement of the significance of introducing mul-
tilingualism and multiculturalism during early childhood, our study aimed to
explore pre-service preschool teachers’ perspectives and attitudes regard-
ing the integration of multilingual and multicultural content at the preschool
level. Additionally, we sought to uncover their perceptions of their own qual-
ifications in this domain and the primary challenges they perceive. The find-
ings indicate that the participants possess a good understanding of multi-
lingualism and multiculturalism. However, many still tend to focus on tra-
ditional aspects, such as food, clothing, folk dance, holidays, and celebra-
tions. A few participants broaden this perspective to include national sym-
bols, common characteristics, and the history of countries, including their
cultural heritage. Some participants perceive multilingualism and multicul-
turalism as interconnected concepts, suggesting that they view language as
an integral component of culture. They all emphasise the importance of mul-
tilingual and multicultural education and its impact, not only in cultivating
children’s appreciation for diverse languages and cultures but also in foster-
ing an inclusive mindset toward individuals from varied cultural and linguis-
tic backgrounds and, through this, also facilitating a deeper understanding
of one’s own culture and language. However, in practice, they encounter var-
ious challenges in implementing multilingual and multicultural education
successfully. These include a lack of appropriate teacher training, limitations
imposed by the curriculum, time constraints, and teachers’ negative percep-
tions of their own foreign language proficiency, as well as negative attitudes
towards linguistic and cultural diversity, held by many parents and teachers
alike. To address these challenges effectively, there is a growing need to en-
sure the availability of teacher training programmes, develop comprehen-

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