Imagine it: the professionalization of "informal" language education

April 22, 2025

Read the Dutch version of this article on the Taalwijs blog!

If you cannot make a living off of teaching heritage language and culture to children every Saturday morning, why would you follow a professional development course for it? You have a day job, a family, and -- after all -- it's only volunteer work. Where can you even find training opportunities for such a "niche" education sector? 

As the founder of a non-profit charity that supports volunteer teachers, I've spent more than five years investigating -- and admiring -- community-based heritage language education programs. How are they set up and by whom, what are the benefits and challenges? What a fascinating sector: so ubiquitous, but so hidden. So important, but often so fragile. It’s time we take action to professionalize it.

Filling a gap

The mainstream education system is not going to (easily) be able to offer education in all of the languages spoken by the multilingual children in our society. Dutch is generally the main language in  mainstream education, and although home languages are increasingly valued, mainstream teachers are not equipped to directly support children in developing their home languages. Grassroots programs emerge to fill the gap. What a precious service they are providing! Unfortunately, this is generally not recognized by mainstream society. In fact, the Dutch national government seems more keen on setting up mechanisms for punishment for the providers of informal education than mechanisms for support.

It doesn’t seem to add up. We know that multilingualism is valued: it is an asset on job applications, and the same goes for “intercultural competence.” We know that the ability to speak with grandparents contributes to a child's emotional well-being. "World citizenship" is all the rage. But there is currently no talk of, for instance, opening up school buildings at no cost to all professionally-run heritage language and culture education programs.

Downward spiral

What does an un-supported heritage language education sector look like? There is no evidence of the programs within the mainstream discourse, no endorsement, no training. The assumption is that these are hobby clubs where nothing serious is learned -- or worse, that these are cultural enclaves where children are prevented from integrating. There can, no doubt, be great variation in the level of experience and professionalism of community-based heritage language programs. But dismissing them, leaving them out of the growing number of discussions about how we can support multilingual children -- this leads to weaker and less sustainable programs. A self-fullfilling prophecy.

Professionalization and partnership

What does a supported heritage language education sector look like? I've researched examples from eight other countries, such as, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and Sweden and posted the information on our website for inspiration. Exactly what the support measures look like depends on factors such as: whether or not there is a legal mandate for heritage language education, whether or not a recognition system is in place for the programs, and whether or not there is advocacy in action. In all cases, we see an effort to professionalize the sector -- not only to raise the standards and achieve more effective lessons, but also to give acknowledgement to the heritage language teachers that what they are doing is important and worthy of attention. That they are partners in the education of these children.

Language-specific support

We know that the Dutch government is not opposed to arranging training for heritage language teachers, because they ensure such support is available for teachers of Dutch Language and Culture education (NTC) to Dutch-speaking children who live outside of the Netherlands. Some might argue that heritage language programs should be able to survive on support from their "origin countries." While it's fantastic that language-specific support exists, it is not available for all languages -- and even when it is available, it is often insufficient. There is something key about having the blessing from the society where you operate. Local support seems to be a leg of the table that is too often missing.

Where to begin?

In Eindhoven, we can check the box "advocacy in action." We've raised the visibility of the language groups and built up a professional network: "Heritage Language Education (HLE) Network." We organize training for teachers and managers, and we raise awareness among mainstream educators. We have lobbyed policy-makers to tap into this sector to help alleviate the national teacher shortage. Simple things also go a long way: we procured some free printing and teaching supplies. Our vision is of a flourishing heritage language sector, and we are off to a decent start.

Empathy, encouragement, and expectation management

Want to help this sector succeed? You will have to look at it with the right lense. Understand that there is no secretary working 9 to 5 in an office, waiting to receive your call. Understand that there is no one “type” of child who attends these programs – each child’s linguistic and migration background is unique. Understand that program managers are powered by their dedication to prevent language loss among multilingual children – so much so that they withstand not only the common logistical challenges, but also the common negative attitudes from the wider community. If you aim to partner with these groups, be sensitive to the fact that motivation is an intangible, central driving force.

Our network aims to raise the status of this sector and fuel motivation, with a multi-faceted approach. We refer to the individuals involved as "heritage language professionals," and we ask the experienced teachers and managers to lead workshops -- and pay them for the service, if funding allows. We post news items that celebrate the victories of the active language groups. We praise the teachers for ensuring that children exercise their universal human right to develop their home language. We have made it our prime directive at HLE Network to ask what we can do to help the programs instead of to ask what they can do for us. Don’t make the mistake of discovering this world of language communities and immediately ask for free translations, help with your activities, or access to experiment participants. First ask them what they need.

From “informal” to “indispensible”

Heritage language education intersects with a range of issues: migration and globalization, politics and peace, diversity and inclusion, 21st Century skills and trade, identities and mental health. As such, the discussion of it can get pulled in different directions – and misconceptions can also be a major obstacle. Despite these complexities, it is possible to stay true to the basic fact: multilingual children deserve support, and society benefits when they receive that support, so let’s help the people who teach them.

We hope to see an upward spiral: a network of language teachers who assert themselves as an integral fixture in the modern educational landscape, which in turn leads to a society that acknowledges their crucial role, which in turn will lead to funding for more professional development and other forms of support. There is incredible potential to improve the circumstances for these teachers, and we should quickly move past imagining it to making it the new reality.

Further reading

Cannizzaro (2025). Empowering informal education while ensuring accountability: Public statement by HLE Network in reaction to the Wetsvoorstel toezicht informeel onderwijs. www.hlenet.org/post/2025-reaction-wtio

Aberdeen, T., Cannizzaro, G., Douglas, M.,Emilsson Peskova, R., Lu, T., Ludanyi, R.,McCabe, M., Paulovicova, N., Peyton, J.K., &Sobrevía, S. (2021). International Guidelines for Professional Practices in Community-Based Heritage Language Schools. www.heritagelanguageschools.org/coalition/international-guidelines 

Anderson, J., Argyri, E., Ashtari, N., Cannizzaro, G., Egnatz, L., Emilsson Peskova, R., Hristozova, M., Little, S., Mehmedbegovic-Smith, D., Nahodilova, J., Paulovicova, N., & Wahlin, M. (2024). Global Call to Action for Heritage Language Education. Heritage Language Global Think Tank. https://menntavisindastofnun.hi.is/is/global-call-hle