On November 7th, Dr. Valley Lytra, a professor at Goldsmiths University of London, delivered a lecture on Children’s Agentive Voices in Arts-based Creativity in a Greek Heritage Pre-kindergarten Class. The event, which attracted 10 attendees, was sponsored by the Berkeley Language Center and the Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies program. Lytra focuses on multilingualism in education with the contexts of minorities and migrants, and used Greek language as a case study in her most recent research.
Lytra’s research was inspired by personal experiences in fostering Greek language and literacy with her own children. It was conducted at a local Greek community school in Lausanne, Switzerland. Lytra described these community-based heritage language schools as spaces of resistance, joy, and hope that promote fluid bilingual identity construction and serve as safe havens where children can explore multiple identities.
Lytra reflected on multilingualism using a quote, “How is it possible that linguistic diversity—ubiquitous as it is—is so often obscured from view? How can linguistic diversity remain hidden in plain sight?” The Greek language classes took place in a primary school classroom, transformed into early years teaching space every Saturday and Wednesday, symbolizing how heritage language education can be hidden in plain sight.
However, heritage schools face significant challenges. Limited languages and cultures are integrated in mainstream curricula, and in Switzerland, where German, French, Italian, and Romansch are dominant, opportunities for other language education are scarce. Heritage schools rely on volunteer efforts, underpaid staff, and lack formal recognition, resulting in a negative impact on the student experience. Lyra noted that these schools thrive as long as parents remain committed to their continuation.
Lytra advocated for expanding our understanding of language beyond a purely linguistic perspective, encouraging a move away from a “logocentric” perspective. She explained children synchronize various resources to make meaning, learning language and culture simultaneously. This pedagogy focuses on experiential and material elements over formal instruction, making children young active agents in their learning. Teachers act as program designers, adapting lessons based on their observations rather than following exam-oriented methods.
Lytra provided historical context about the 2011 debt crisis in Greece, which led to an end in sending teachers abroad. Since then, Greek community language education abroad has become decentralized and privatized. Teachers now choose their materials, parents bear education costs, and there are no formal restrictions on starting schools. Lytra co-founded a Greek school in Lausanne in 2017, which offers project-based learning for both children and adult learners.
Her data included insights from herself, two Kindergarten teachers—Myrto and Katerina—and head teacher Maria, as part of a longitudinal study on Greek Community language education. The study focused on seven to nine children aged two and a half to four, who predominantly spoke French but had “rich and heterogeneous language repertoires.” Although teachers sometimes translated into French, they voiced concerns about sending mixed messages. The learning objectives were to build confidence in Greek and support the transition to formal education.
Lytra presented two case studies: a puppet show of Three Little Pigs and a storytime activity. In the puppet show, children took turns performing, with teachers narrating and scaffolding their participation to develop oracy. . For storytelling, the children would act out stories and later draw characters, often incorporating French and cultural references. For example, one child, Alexandra, called her drawing “Pepe Bunny,” an animated character. Lyra noted that the use of French accents and external references sometimes put teachers in the position of language learners.
Lytra’s concept of a translingual and transcultural approach emphasizes learning as flexible and dynamic. Combining Greek and French allows children to convey meaning and negotiate identities, making their multilingual repertoires valued and recognized. She advocates for arts-based methodologies to enable children to use all of their resources in education. Lytra concluded by posing a crucial question: How can we nurture such spaces as ‘literacy’ becomes more constrained in later schooling, limiting opportunities for creativity?