Supporting inclusion and family involvement in early childhood education through 'ISOTIS': A case study in Greece

Abstract

This article presents a case study, conducted in the Greek educational context, as part of the European collaborative project, called "ISOTIS", funded by the European Union, including 17 partners and 11 countries. The main aim of the case study was the support of students' first languages and cultures through home-based and classroom-based activities, family involvement and the professionalization of teachers using ICT environments in early childhood education. In this paper, we particularly focus on aspects of home-school partnership, as promoted through the support of children's heritage languages and cultures, drawing from the perspectives of the parents, teachers, and professionals, who participated in qualitative, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The research findings show that home-school partnership was fostered through the inclusion and support of the children's languages and cultures, the affirmation of their identities and the empowerment of their 'voices' and capitals. Last, they highlight that family involvement has a multiple impact not only for bi/multilingual families and their children, but also for teachers and all parts involved, shown to be benefited in a multidimensional way. © 2020 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.