Abstract
The material developed by V. Gobbett Bamber and M. Irsara is part of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) created through a collaboration between by the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy), the University of Primorska (Slovenia), the University of Pula (Croatia), the University College of Teacher Education of Vienna (Austria), and the University of Trento (Italy). This course is one of the outcomes of the inter-university project DivA: Diversity in Action. The MOOC is an open-source, asynchronous professional development programme designed to support both pre-service and in-service teachers in working effectively with linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms. Structured over six weeks, the course provides targeted content and practical strategies. V. Gobbett Bamber and M. Irsara authored the content for Weeks 3 and 4.
Week 4 is intended for student teachers or current teachers to work through individually and/or collaboratively, in small groups as communities of learning/practice. The week outlines the principles and practice of creative teacher talk and mediated picturebook readalouds. These are crucial in implementing story-based approaches in multilingual settings; they involve a range of embodied and multimodal strategies for providing suitable mediation and scaffolding to YLs while drawing on picturebooks in GCED.
Through readings, picturebook selection activities, readaloud activities, video analysis and reflection, and self-assessment activities, participants will develop their understanding of and competences in planning and implementing story-based pedagogical activities for GCED with YLs.
Lastly, the week will briefly expand on the themes and teacher competences relating to story-based GCED approaches through providing a space for participants to reflect on their continuing professional development pathways and strategies.