Pedagogy Perspectives with Professor Sabine Little

Professor Sabine Little is a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield whose research explores the intersection of multilingualism, identity, and belonging. Her work challenges the narrow framing of language as a barrier, instead positioning multilingualism as a fundamental resource for learning, relationships, and inclusion across all areas of a child’s life.

We discuss:

• How implicit language hierarchies in school and home settings can unintentionally marginalise children’s heritage languages and weaken their sense of identity.
• The concept of the 'full linguistic repertoire' and how current UK education policy fails to acknowledge its cognitive and cultural significance.
• Ways that schools can make multilingualism visible and valued in everyday practice: inclusive reading diaries, multilingual displays, storytelling, and drafting in multiple languages.
• The Rivers of Reading and Lost Wor(l)ds projects as examples of bridging home-school language practices and shifting perceptions of what counts as reading and literacy.

Listen in to hear how Professor Little calls for a move from ‘inert benevolence’ to active multilingual pedagogies, where all teachers are equipped to support language diversity as part of excellent teaching for all. She makes a compelling case for system-wide change, beginning with teacher training and rooted in the lived experiences of multilingual children.