Redressing language-based exclusion and punishment in education and the Language Friendly School initiative
Redressing language-based exclusion and punishment in education and the Language Friendly School initiative
Date
2020
Authors
Hurwitz, Deena R.
Kambel, Ellen-Rose
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Global Campus of Human Rights
Abstract
Despite decades of scientific literature showing the benefits of
multilingual programmes that allow children to learn through their mother
tongue, millions of children around the world continue to be denied the right
to be educated through a language they understand. Not only are home
languages largely excluded from the official curriculum, but children belonging
to ethnolinguistic minorities often are also prohibited and sometimes even
punished for speaking their mother tongue on the school grounds. Contrary
to what is generally believed by educators, preventing children from using
their home language does not improve their educational performance, but
rather has harmful social and emotional effects. After presenting examples of
these practices in various countries, this article examines the human rights
implications when students are banned from using their home language at
school, by referring to the international instruments in force regarding children’s
rights in education, with a focus on the European context and its relevant
framework. We find that such practices violate the right to education, freedom
of speech, and the right to be protected against direct and indirect racial and
language-based discrimination. The Language Friendly School is introduced as
a new initiative with the explicit aim of ending language-based punishment in
education by 2030, the ‘deadline’ of the Sustainable Development Goals. While
schools are the primary location where these practices take place, tackling
the deep inequalities in education cannot be left to schools alone. We end our
analysis with a call to action on governments to redress these violations of
children’s rights, and to human rights educators, advocates and lawyers to hold
them accountable.
Key words: right to education; language-based exclusion and punishment;
ethnolinguistic minorities; racial discrimination; mother tongue education;
multilingual education
Description
Keywords
language,
linguistic minorities,
children's rights,
right to education,
discrimination,
multiculturalism,
punishment
Citation
DR Hurwitz & ER Kambel ‘Redressing language-based exclusion and punishment in education and the Language Friendly School initiative’ (2020) 4 Global Campus Human Rights Journal 5-24 http://dx.doi.org/10.25330/610