From Practice to Policy: Developing Quality Criteria for Multilingual Education in Early Childhood Settings

Abstract Early multilingual education is increasingly recognised as central to equity, inclusion and children’s linguistic rights in Early Childhood Education. However, policy aspirations are often weakly connected to everyday classroom practices, and there is still limited guidance on what constitutes quality plurilingual pedagogy in early childhood settings. This study addresses this gap by developing and validating a context-sensitive framework of quality criteria for multilingual Early Childhood Education. A modified Delphi method was used within a sequential mixed-methods design. In an initial qualitative phase, expert reflections on real-world plurilingual practices were analysed using grounded theory procedures, resulting in the formulation of six criteria. These criteria were subsequently validated through a quantitative round with 29 experts from 11 countries. The framework reached high levels of consensus (Median Convergence Coefficient > 80%) and includes six dimensions: communicative approaches, commitment to plurilingualism and cultural diversity, holistic and child-centred pedagogy, age-appropriate resources, professional collaboration, and family and community involvement. The study contributes to international debates on multilingual education by offering a practice-informed tool for reflection, curriculum development and language policy in early childhood. Rather than proposing universal standards, the framework is intended to support locally responsive and rights-oriented plurilingual practices throughout diverse educational contexts.