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Language and education policies across scales: policy processes in the institutional order of German-language ECEC in South Tyrol, Italy.

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Title: Language and education policies across scales: policy processes in the institutional order of German-language ECEC in South Tyrol, Italy.
Authors: Platzgummer, Verena1,2 (AUTHOR) verena.platzgummer@universityofgalway.ie
Source: Ethnography & Education. Apr2026, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p271-287. 17p.
Subject Terms: *Language policy, *Education policy, *Linguistics education, *Early childhood education, Sociolinguistics, Public institutions, Hierarchy (Linguistics), Provinces
Geographic Terms: Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy), Italy
Abstract: Despite a long tradition of ethnographic research on language and education policy processes, these have remained underexplored in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). This paper draws on a one-year sociolinguistic ethnography of a German-language kindergarten in the Italian province of South Tyrol to trace how language and education policies travel across spatiotemporal and institutional scales. It shows how educators set goals for their kindergarten, reflect on their practices in light of these goals, and make use of evaluation documents to negotiate policies with the District. The paper argues that institutionalised requirements of goal setting and evaluation bring policy texts into focus on the level of the individual kindergarten and create feedback loops with the district. By revealing how educators come to adopt framings that implicitly equate 'language' with 'Standard German', the paper contributes to elucidating the reproduction of linguistic hierarchies within educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Ethnography & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Language and education policies across scales: policy processes in the institutional order of German-language ECEC in South Tyrol, Italy.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Platzgummer%2C+Verena%22">Platzgummer, Verena</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> verena.platzgummer@universityofgalway.ie</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Ethnography+%26+Education%22">Ethnography & Education</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p271-287. 17p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+policy%22">Language policy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Education+policy%22">Education policy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistics+education%22">Linguistics education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+childhood+education%22">Early childhood education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sociolinguistics%22">Sociolinguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+institutions%22">Public institutions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hierarchy+%28Linguistics%29%22">Hierarchy (Linguistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Provinces%22">Provinces</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Trentino-Alto+Adige+%28Italy%29%22">Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Italy%22">Italy</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Despite a long tradition of ethnographic research on language and education policy processes, these have remained underexplored in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). This paper draws on a one-year sociolinguistic ethnography of a German-language kindergarten in the Italian province of South Tyrol to trace how language and education policies travel across spatiotemporal and institutional scales. It shows how educators set goals for their kindergarten, reflect on their practices in light of these goals, and make use of evaluation documents to negotiate policies with the District. The paper argues that institutionalised requirements of goal setting and evaluation bring policy texts into focus on the level of the individual kindergarten and create feedback loops with the district. By revealing how educators come to adopt framings that implicitly equate 'language' with 'Standard German', the paper contributes to elucidating the reproduction of linguistic hierarchies within educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Ethnography & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/17457823.2025.2464128
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 271
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      – SubjectFull: Language policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Education policy
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      – SubjectFull: Linguistics education
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      – SubjectFull: Early childhood education
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      – SubjectFull: Sociolinguistics
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      – SubjectFull: Public institutions
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      – SubjectFull: Provinces
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      – SubjectFull: Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy)
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      – SubjectFull: Italy
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      – TitleFull: Language and education policies across scales: policy processes in the institutional order of German-language ECEC in South Tyrol, Italy.
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              M: 04
              Text: Apr2026
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              Y: 2026
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