Throughout the Winter 2023 semester, I was able to attend eight thoroughly researched and developed seminars from fellow students, regarding different topics revolving around multilingualism in the classroom.

Two of these seminars focused on Language Learning and Identity. They discussed how interconnected language and identity are and explain the effects that can be had on students learning if their native language is suppressed in their education. These seminars also provided examples of how multiple languages can be included in the classroom.

Three of the seminars were on Language Loss and Dialects. These seminars regarded the history of language loss in Canada, discussing how residential schools and other concepts of colonization contributed to the Indigenous language loss. These seminars also explain some of the ongoing effects of this language loss and what the roles of educators are in preventing language loss. These seminars provide examples of ways to prevent language loss.

One of these seminars included the topic of Language and Power. This seminar discussed how powerful language can be and discussed how English is becoming one of the most common languages in the world. The presenters discussed how power in the language is affected in classrooms and provided teaching strategies to remove and identify these power structures.

One of these seminars discusses Classroom Discourse. This seminar presented the importance of common language in the classroom. The presenters explain ways to teach anti-racist education in the classroom and explain how language is used in anti-racist education. They also explain the importance of community and discourse in anti-racist education.

The last seminar that I watched was about Gatekeeping in Language. This seminar explained the concepts of gatekeeping and why it is dangerous. The presenters also explained how gatekeeping appears in the classroom and how it can be prevented.

Overall, being able to attend these seminars provided me with a lot of information about things to pay attention to as an educator. It also provided me with many tools and strategies to create and promote an anti-racist and multilingual classroom in the future.