Visit to Vienna, Austria

Day 1: Visit to GRG 21, Ödenburgerstraße 74 school.

In GRG 21, Ödenburgerstraße 74 school, we were warmly welcomed by the students, who had prepared a food bazaar to showcase the variety of cultures represented in their school. I especially appreciated that we were each assigned two students to guide us around the school.

The walls were very creative—I enjoyed the silly writings on some of the doors, which added a fun and personal touch. The library window displayed flags from different countries, which I found meaningful and important as a reflection of diversity.

One of the highlights for me was an activity led by 12-year-old students, showing the importance of all the languages they speak at home, as well as a recital presented in the hall.

Day 2:   Visit to a primary school GTVS am Schöpfwerk with a history of Erasmus + activity and a very multicultural student body. The class we visited, along with the teachers, were very welcoming. I especially loved how two of the teachers sang in Albanian and Turkish with the students, and how everyone greeted each other in their first language (L1). It was clear that students are encouraged to use their L1 and embrace multilingualism, creating an inclusive and culturally rich environment.

A visit to WMS/RG/ORG Anton Krieger Gasse was very interesting. We met with students and visited their classrooms. The atmosphere was relaxed, and it was evident that all cultures were genuinely embraced. This was no surprise, as the school has a reputation for being open-minded and diverse.

Day3: On the last day, we attended a lecture on the VoxMi project, which originated from an Erasmus initiative ten years ago. Mag. Ursula Mauric presented an overview of the project, and two of her colleagues shared best practice examples they have implemented so far. I really loved the idea of drawing while listening to music as a way to express feelings. Another inspiring activity was drawing a bird filled with phrases in different languages, which beautifully reflected linguistic diversity. The fashion show idea was also creative and engaging—it’s a great way for students to showcase their cultural identities.

And of course, the coffee break was a nice moment to pause, connect, and reflect.

Overall Impressions

Overall, visiting the schools in Vienna was a truly enriching experience. It offered me new perspectives on educational approaches, especially when it comes to fostering inclusivity and providing meaningful support for students from immigrant backgrounds. I gained practical experience and ideas that we will use in our school.

It was my first time visiting Vienna and I have to say I was in awe of the beautiful and magnificent architecture of the Parliament and Hofburg Palace.

I was also jealous of the efficient and punctual Transport system that made it so easy to travel around the City.

As a group we met on the Sunday night and went out to dinner and this gave everyone the opportunity to catch up with each other in a relaxed atmosphere. It is a year since the group met first in Ireland and this is now our fourth trip so we are now very comfortable in each other’s company.

On Monday morning we went to our host’s school GRG 21, Odenburgerstrabe 74, first item on the agenda was to take the obligatory group photo. This was taken by a beautiful Welcome Wall that was painted by the teacher in the school. Then small groups of students gave us a tour of the school and gave us an honest but positive feedback on their experience of the school. We were treated to a buffet of ‘Foods of the World’, this buffet was organised and prepared by the students themselves.

We were entertained by pupils that took the time and effort to perform Ai Se Te Pego by Michel Teló in four different languages. All the pupils translated the words and this was difficult as of course the words have to fit the rhythm.  This especially impressed our Portuguese colleagues and they were so taken they got up and danced on stage alongside the singers. We also listened to a very powerful speech written by a young pupil in English and German about her thoughts and feelings about equality and diversity. This speech was a very mature reflection on the world in which we now live.

Afterwards we had the opportunity to visit classrooms which is where my interest lies as a teacher I am always interested to see what teaching and learning in other countries is like. Children are always the same, curious about these strangers entering their class but eager and enthusiastic to share what they are doing in class. In Silvia’s class the children presented a pictorial representation of an outline of their body, each colour used represented a language. Children commented that their heads were their home language because their thoughts were in their home language but their mouth might speak German. Another group had changed the words of a Million Dreams to reflect their thoughts on equality and diversity.

In the afternoon, we met as a group to share the work we had done in our own schools since we met in Serbia. We had a few Zooms since our last in person meeting and we had decided that we would focus on dual language texts. It was interesting to see how the group had approached this task with their pupils. Some were individual texts and others were collaborative texts. There was now an accepted awareness to encourage the use of Home Languages in our schools.

Tuesday we travelled across the city of Vienna using the very efficient Transport System. The first school we got to visit was a Primary School and being a Primary School teacher I had a special interest in this visit.  Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover is especially true about this school, GTVS am Schopfwerk is a primary school that has a strong and rich tradition in developing multiculturalism and plurilingualism The school may look very ordinary from the outside but inside its doors there is a lot of inspiring and thought provoking work happening in its classrooms.

The school has embraced its multiculturalism and strides to make every pupil welcome in the school. Every Language has a value in the school. The Rights of the Child are displayed in a number of languages throughout the school. This highlights the importance they place on these for every child in the school. The school is involved in Erasmus projects and these projects help to support their work.

We visited one classroom, where every morning the children begin the day by saying Hello in their Home Language. They sang songs in Turkish and Slovakian. They use dual language texts with the children using a Theatre Style Box and a Big Book.  The teachers had a positive attitude towards plurilingualism in their school.  Even the school choir sang songs in a variety of languages and were happy and enthusiastic to do so.

In the Afternoon, we got to visit Anton Krieger Gasse which is a comprehensive school that has pupils from 10-18 years old. The school has a diverse school population.

On Wednesday, we returned to GRG21, where Mag. Ursula Mauric gave a presentation on the Project VOXMI. VOXMI recognises and promotes all languages in Austrian Schools. VOXMI   recognises that over 80 languages are spoken in Austrian Schools. VOXMI has created network of support for teachers from Kindergarten to Educational Institutions.  VOXMI provides certification of good practice to schools that have created Language Friendly Schools. VOXMI was recently received the UNESCO AWARD for its work with schools to help promote languages. It was enlightening and motivating to hear Mag. Ursula speak so passionately about her work.

Then two teachers who work in a VOXMI school gave a practical presentation about the work they do in their school to promote the language. I especially liked the idea of the Language Parrot; each feather represented a new word. Their use of Tongue Twisters to provide fun and engaging ways to use the Home Language. The Identity Board that can be accessed and used by all pupils. Each classroom door had the flags of the countries/ language of the children in the class. These simple ideas are effective in giving each child a sense of belonging.

Finally, we had our group meeting to discuss the next steps of our project before we reunite in Portugal in May. I felt that everyone had a sound understanding of what is meant by multiculturalism in schools and how diversity can help unite a school rather than divide it. Our three days in Vienna were very busy but thoroughly enjoyable and interesting and I got to take a lot of ideas back with me that I can put into action in my school.

The three school visits were very well chosen: We had a great and warm welcome with many multilingual activities and presentations at Silvia’s school (GRG 21)and the Primary School at the Schöpfwerk where we realized that every student in class had a different cultural and linguistic background. I really liked the way they were coping with multilingualism with just little efforts (greetings in mother tongues, little songs and stories in the students‘ languages, the language finger print and language portraits). And finally the comprehensive school in Kriegergasse where some students from diverse cultural background showed us around their school. It was amazing to observe how proud they were to be part of that multilingual community. They were completely used to bring their cultural and linguistic background to school and not to be ashamed for that.

Finally the lecture on the Voxmi project on the last day was a nice conclusion of what we had seen in practice before. Based on their principles that all languages are equal, they showed us a variety of „language-aware“-teaching methods where we could easily spot the bottom-up approach. We could learn from many examples that they had worked out (tongue twisters in different languages, art combined with languages, work with onomatopoeia and a fashion walk where the different cultural backgrounds were presented).

As a conclusion I would say that this mobility showed us in many ways how multilingualism and different cultural backgrounds are a gain not only for the individual students but for the whole school community if it is appreciated and celebrated!

As a whole I got inspired by many examples how to welcome and integrate all kind of diversity, from welcome booklets, maps and illustrations on the wall, cultural days, linguistic support etc. It was also very interesting to listen to Dr. Deirdre Kirwan’s presentation on Embracing Linguistic Diversity.

Although the main focus was on welcoming newcomer students I learned how one of the primary schools managed to integrate children with special needs into the school community.

I left Portlaoise inspired by many new ideas and hopes.

To follow....

Minutes of European Schools of Belonging Vienna

26/02/25

Present: Niamh Campion, Catherine Doolan, Liam O Neill, Ruth, Cristina Borges, Isabel Martins, Jennifer, Ksenija Petkovic, Renate, Tijane, Silvia Kreiner and Anela.

Catherine will share via the Whatsapp group the feedback from Léargas on the Interim Report on the Project.

Points to Note

• Specific Focus on Quality Assurance Survey
• Outcome of the Project is a Toolkit
• Green practices and Activity
• Children’s Work and Student Voice

Actions

1. Catherine will liaise with Deirdre Kirwan on developing a toolkit.
2. Photographs and videos of children’s work on dual language texts to be sent to Ruth by May 1^st  via Google Drive
3. Proposed questions for Survey of Staff to be sent to Catherine by Friday March 7^th
4. Each participant country will send their reflection to Catherine by the end of March
5. Cristina will plan the trip to Portugal but will allow a half day for planning.