Abstract:

Today, as a result of migration, more and more people from different cultures are living in the same place. Slovakia is no exception, even though it is not one of the largest multicultural countries compared to other countries in the European Union. Educating children with different mother language can pose a challenge for educators. Multicultural competences of teachers are also emphasized by foreign authors Güven et al. (2022), McAllister and Irvine (2000) and others. In our research, we were interested in the views of primary teachers with experience of working with pupils with different mother language and which teaching competences they consider important when working with these pupils. We used a qualitative research design. The research sample consisted of 20 teachers of primary education from twelve Slovak primary schools. The research method consisted of semi-structured interviews which, after verbatim transcription, were subjected to content analysis through open coding. The results of the framework analysis showed that the teachers' professional competencies included professional experience gained during their undergraduate training as well as several years of practice. Teachers emphasized the need for an individual approach when working with students with different mother language, a slower pace of instruction, and modification of assessment with an emphasis on verbal, formative assessment and constructive feedback. Cooperation with other teaching staff in the school (teaching assistants, special educators, school support team) was considered important. They also mentioned the importance of creating a favourable social climate in the classroom. The findings of our qualitative research present concrete recommendations that can be helpful to future teachers as well as to practicing teachers.

Keywords:

Teachers' competences, pupils with different mother language, multiculturalism, interviews, content analysis.