voXmi is an Austrian educational network that has existed since 2008/09 and has been expanding ever since. The acronym voXmi means “learning and experiencing languages from and with each other”. The motivation for founding the network was to contribute to a culture of peace and social cohesion in Austria´s migrant society by valuing and integrating all languages of children and their families in educational processes. voXmi educational institutions actively counter all forms of exclusion, racism and linguicism and make human rights an issue.
In a whole-institution approach, good practice is developed towards a language-friendly school culture. Learning from and with each other takes place within and across institutions in pre-school, primary, general secondary and vocational schools. One of the main foci is to use digital media consciously and constructively for this purpose.
Currently, about 60 schools and 2 kindergartens throughout Austria are active members. The network is coordinated by four University Colleges of Teacher Education (and hopefully more soon) and offers educational institutions the opportunity for a regular exchange on good practice, topic-related webinars and further education.
Together, concepts around multilingualism are further developed and annual themes for educational and school development are formulated. In the network, social issues around multilingualism are discussed. This is done, for example, by working on common annual themes that address particular concerns of voXmi schools and kindergartens: How can language-friendly education help to promote participation in a democratic society? How can schools and kindergartens cooperate with parents in a multilingual migrant society? How can voXmi contribute to create a strong narrative of the opportunities that linguistic diversity brings to society? How can it lead to a de-hierarchization of languages and the world knowledge they contain? This shows also the importance of multi-perspective and intercultural dialogue for voXmi.
4 Principles form the basis for voXmi:
You can find more information here: voXmi & SDG 4.7_EN
Learning from and with each other implies that activities that facilitate encounters, discussion and the exchange of experiences are of central importance in the network. To make maximum use of digital opportunities for voXmi means that digital learning opportunities for educators are regularly provided including eLectures on the annual topics.
What kind of activities do learners and teachers carry out?
The voXmi website presents both the theoretical foundations and support for their transfer into educational practice. It is the central platform for communicating voXmi expertise to the outside world. Here you can find