Based on a highly interdisciplinary theoretical framework, Tobias Schroedler provides a comprehensive picture of the value of language skills within the Irish economy. The author manages to present and merge theories from economics, business studies, sociology, and applied linguistics making this an innovative and valuable contribution to the growing field of research on the value of multilingualism and languages. The first of two datasets presented in the book provides a macroeconomic quantification on the economic performance of four different global language communities. The second dataset consists of an expert interview study on the matter. Based on the data analysis, the author derives recommendations for economically beneficial language education policy making.

This collection examines a diverse range of approaches to multilingualism in teacher education programmes across Europe and North America. The authors investigate how pre-service teachers are being prepared to work in multilingual contexts and discuss the key features of current pre-service teacher education initiatives that address the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity evident in classrooms in their respective countries. The focus is not only on migrant-background learners but includes students from Indigenous, autochthonous and heritage language backgrounds, and speakers of minoritised regional varieties. The chapters contextualise, both historically and ideologically, the specific initiatives and measures taken in the participating countries. They also reveal the complexity of each educational context and the role that history, language policies and institutional and programmatic priorities play in the development and implementation of a multilingual focus in teacher education. In exploring how pre-service teachers are being prepared to work in multilingual contexts, the authors take a critical view of how multilingualism itself is conceptualised within and across contexts. The book highlights the valuable impact that explicit instruction on theories of multilingualism, pedagogies in multilingual classrooms and lived realities of multilingual children can have on the beliefs and practices of pre-service teachers.

Der Band uberdenkt die gangigen Vorstellungen von guter Kindheit, welche durch die Covid-19 Pandemie in vielfaltiger Weise beeinflusst werden. Die Perspektiven von Kindern und Jugendlichen auf die Pandemie noch selten Gegenstand der Diskussion. Thematisch stehen im vorliegenden Band Fragen des Wohlbefindens, der Ungleichheit sowie der Familialisierung des Lernens im Mittelpunkt. Anspruch ist, den Fokus explizit auf die praktischen Lebensbedingungen von Kindern und Familien zu richten und deren Sicht zu starken.