Educational professionals' perspectives on Low Saxon in primary education

In the Netherlands, the Primary Education Act permits teaching regional minority languages (RML) where they are spoken (Herweijer & Jans, 2009). In the north and east, variants of Dutch Low Saxon are spoken (Bloemhoff & van der Kooi, 2008), yet it is not a standard part of the primary education curriculum. As a key cultural and linguistic heritage element, its inclusion is valuable (Duarte et al., 2021). This research explores the feasibility of integrating Low Saxon into the primary education curriculum and the preferences of teachers, principals, supervisors, and language coordinators regarding its inclusion (Duarte & Günther-van der Meij, 2022). The needs analysis, part of a longitudinal study on developing a Low Saxon curriculum, was commissioned by various language and heritage organizations and conducted by NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. It involved a questionnaire sent to 1,594 primary schools, addressing the following research questions: What challenges do primary school staff perceive in including the regional language in their curriculum? What attitudes do primary school staff have towards the inclusion of the regional language in education? Should pupils from all linguistic backgrounds be included in regional language education, according to primary education staff? The questionnaire, adapted from an existing one by NHL Stenden on neighbor language education, yielded preliminary results (N=100) showing significant variation in attitudes towards incorporating Low Saxon in education. Main obstacles identified by staff include a lack of knowledge about the language, insufficient curriculum time, and a shortage of ready-to-use materials. Additionally, primary teachers do not see the necessity for children who speak migrant languages to learn Low Saxon. Negative attitudes towards Low Saxon education and a lack of knowledge about multilingualism further hinder its integration. Therefore, support from provincial and national governments is needed to address these issues and promote school-level policies for regional language education.