Linguistic landscapes applauded at OMEP international conference in Prague

Niki Davis and Lia de Vocht presented our digital story of linguistic landscapes in the seven early childhood centres that have collaborated in our study, using the digital story and complementary slides produced by Leona Harris, our lead research assistant and collaborator. The presentation submitted by Leona Harris, “’Is my language treasured here?’ Supporting language diversity by enriching the linguistic landscapes in early childhood education”, began with a multilingual welcome “Dobrey den, kia ora, hello” in Czech, Māori and English. It was included in OMEP2018 Book of Abstracts (konference2018.omep.cz/book-of-abstracts). OMEP lifetime member from Wales, Dorothy Selleck who is recognised for her advocacy for indigenous languages, congratulated the team on the relevance of the research.

OMEP, World Organisation for Early Childhood Education, the leading association for early childhood education celebrated its 70th year in 2018 back in the venue of its first conference in Charles University.

OMEP affiliates to the United Nations and has consultative status with UNICEF, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. At the conference we learned how OMEP acts as a voice for children’s rights in the work of the United Nations in Washington DC. Dr Lia de Vocht-van Alphen is the current President of OMEP Aotearoa New Zealand (www.omepaotearoa.org.nz/).