Institute,

Research Group

Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation,

Specialist Group on Heterogeneity and Diversity with a particular focus on inclusive educational processes

Research Cluster on Intersectional Sensitivity

Since January 2022

Research assistant and doctoral candidate in the Research Training Group ‘Teacher Education 2040’

2020–2021: Student assistant at the University of Hamburg

2018–2021: Master’s programme in ‘Multilingualism and Education’ at the University of Hamburg

2014–2018: Bachelor’s degree in Early Years Education at the University of Education, Freiburg

Teaching activities:

Winter semester 2022:

• Lives and Environments. Focus: Migration and Diversity

• Special and Rehabilitation Education Across the Life Course. Focus: Early Childhood

  Summer semester 2022:

• Developmental Support and Participation. Focus: Intersectional Perspectives on Development, with particular regard to migration and multilingualism

In Germany’s migration society, a wide range of linguistic influences shape pupils’ developmental and educational processes. However, despite the fact that an increasing number of pupils are growing up in multilingual environments, this dynamic is not adequately addressed in teacher training. Courses on multilingualism are neither compulsory nor available at all universities as part of teacher training programmes (Busse 2020). Historically entrenched notions of language, shaped by power and dominance relations, contribute to the perpetuation of the ‘monolingual habitus’ (Gogolin 1994) and continue to manifest themselves in the sometimes negative beliefs of trainee teachers.

This collaborative doctoral project aims to conduct a qualitative analysis of teachers’ beliefs regarding multilingualism in schools and to explore these from an intersectional perspective. The intersectional analysis of the data makes it possible to examine the interplay of various social categories as well as power and dominance relations, and to investigate inclusive, exclusionary and reproducing effects (Budde 2018; Riegel 2022). The intersectional, deconstructivist perspective on relations of difference and dominance associated with multilingualism is adopted in a critical and reflective manner (Riegel 2016). The aim is to formulate implications from the findings for an intersectionally sensitive pedagogical practice that involves a critical reflection on beliefs regarding multilingualism.

Conference attendance and publications

Publications:

Volknant, S. (2024). Linguistic diversity and epistemic injustice: Intersectional perspectives in teacher education. In Anne Goldbach, Anke Langner, Karin Mannewitz, Saskia Schuppener, Nico Leonhardt (eds.): Power and Knowledge – Critical Reflections in the Context of Inclusion and Exclusion. (pp. 130–140). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.

Volknant, S., & Licandro, U. (2024). Preparing Teachers for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms—A Systematic Review on Interventions and Intersectional Perspectives. Education Sciences, 14(8), 846.

Conference papers and presentations:

Volknant, S. (January 2024). Intersectional perspectives on multilingualism in teacher education. Presentation as part of the ‘Difference, Education, Intersectionality’ series of events, Department of Pedagogy for Children with Learning Difficulties, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle.

Volknant, S. (September 2023). Intersectional perspectives on linguistic and cultural diversity in teacher education. Poster presentation as part of the DGfE’s Special Education Section Conference ‘Power Contexts – Critical Reflections on Orders of Knowledge, Knowledge Production and Knowledge Transmission’, Dresden University of Technology.

Volknant, S. & Scholz-Wemken, S. (May 2023). Intersectional sensitivity in teacher education. Presentation at the networking conference of the SGBF Working Group on ‘Intercultural Education’: Perspectives on education critical of power and inequality – findings and explorations in empirical research, Zurich University of Teacher Education.

Volknant, S. (August 2022). Linguistic and cultural diversity from an intersectionally sensitive perspective: teachers’ beliefs and competences. Presentation on the doctoral project as part of the early-career researchers’ workshop at the conference ‘ ’ MORE I LINGUISTIC I EDUCATION – Linguistic diversity as an opportunity and a challenge in educational contexts, University of Cologne.

Volknant, S. (June 2022). Linguistic and cultural diversity from an intersectional perspective: Teachers’ beliefs and competences. Poster presentation as part of the conference for early-career researchers organised by the Mercator Institute for Language Promotion and German as a Second Language, University of Cologne.