TopaGune Ikastaroa: Hezkuntza aniztasunetik justizia sozialera: identitatea, hizkuntza eta pedagogia eraldatzaileak

Dr Andrea Perales-Fernández-de-Gamboa is based in the Basque Country, where she works as a lecturer and researcher in language education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Her work sits at the intersection of applied linguistics and teacher education, with a particular focus on translanguaging, culturally sustaining pedagogies, multilingual identities, and social and cognitive justice in language education. Her research is grounded in classroom-based studies in linguistically and culturally diverse secondary schools, especially in contexts where minority and minoritised languages coexist. Through her work, she is particularly interested in how language teaching can challenge deficit perspectives and better prepare teachers for multilingual educational realities. She is a member of the research group "País Vasco, Europa y América: Vínculos y Relaciones Atlánticas".

Maider Aldaia Buldain has been the director of Amaiur Ikastola (Pamplona) since 2020 and has over 20 years of experience as an Early Childhood Education teacher in various schools in Navarre. She currently leads the Basque Language Committee and the Language Plan at the ikastola, overseeing campaigns to promote Basque language use, foster Basque culture, and encourage community involvement, among other initiatives. She also coordinates Inclusion and Innovation (PROMOVILIDAD - HEZIGARRI), facilitates the School Climate Committee and support programs, and coordinates the school's Digital Plan. During the course, she will share the challenges she has faced as a director and in the classroom: strategies for increasing the prevalence, challenges, and use of Basque, combining inclusion and well-being.

Aicha Benbekheita Maati, born and raised in Vitoria-Gasteiz, is 21 years old and the eldest daughter of an Algerian family. She studies at the Faculty of Education and Sport in Vitoria-Gasteiz with the goal of becoming an English teacher. She is also studying Law, Philosophy, and Psychology because these areas help her understand critical thinking and human behavior. She is fluent in eight languages: Arabic, French, Basque, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Dutch, and English, with a C2 level in English and C1 or B2 in the others. In her professional experience, she works as a legal translator in a court, helps students at an English academy, and also gives private lessons. A publishing house also commissions her to translate literary books.

Teacher and researcher in the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). I completed a Bachelor's degree in English Studies (UPV/EHU) with a specialization in English Linguistics. I begun my specialisation in language teaching and learning at the Master's in Language Education at the University of Salamanca (USAL) and the European Master's program in Multilingualism and Education at UPV/EHU. Following this academic trajectory, I secured a pre-doctoral contract from the Basque Government to write my doctoral thesis, which was part of the program "Education: School, Language, and Society." I obtained my PhD in 2024. My research examines Language Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate from a gender perspective and utilizes queer theories. I have contributed to various research projects both within and outside of the university. Within the university, I have participated in projects such as LISTIAC, PETRANSCUR, and HIGAEU. Additionally, I have collaborated with local municipalities and other stakeholders in research projects, conducted diagnostics, and analysed historical memory, among others. While I have a broad range of interests, my research primarily focuses on the influ

Olatz Etxebarria Perez de Nanclares es profesora e investigadora en la Universidad del País Vasco. Doctora en Psicología de la Educación por la misma institución, realizó la estancia internacional del doctorado en la Universidad de Harvard. Es graduada en Educación Primaria con menciones en Educación Física, Pedagogía Terapéutica e Inglés como Lengua Extranjera, y posee un máster en Orientación e Intervención Psicopedagógica. A lo largo de 17 años ha desarrollado su labor profesional en diversas áreas de la educación en Euskal Herria, Estados Unidos y Asia. Sus líneas de investigación se centran en la identidad de género, las necesidades educativas especiales, los contextos multiculturales y multilingües, y la actividad física. Ha difundido sus trabajos en revistas científicas de alto impacto y ha participado como ponente en congresos de ámbito nacional e internacional.

Mikel Gartziarena holds a Bachelor's degree in Primary Education (University of the Basque Country - UPV/EHU), a postgraduate degree from the School of Writers (National University of Distance Education - UNED), and a Master's degree in Multilingualism and Education (UPV/EHU). After teaching in Primary Education, he is currently a professor in the Department of Language and Literature Didactics at the UPV/EHU, training future teachers on the Gipuzkoa campus. He received the Extraordinary Doctoral Award in 2023 for his dissertation, "Plurilingual and Methodological Beliefs of Primary School Teachers in Southern Spain." His study analyzes teachers' linguistic attitudes, strategies for effective multilingual language teaching, and the sociolinguistic factors that influence the revitalization of Basque. He has also undertaken international research stays and collaborations with research groups in Quebec, Wales, the French Basque Country (Iparralde), Boise, and Reno, and publishes in high-impact international and Basque journals. She currently edits the journal Tantak UPV (Education and Basque Language). During the course, she will present the main results of her research.

Izaskun Molás Olalde is a PhD student in the Language Acquisition in Plurilingual Contexts program of the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea since 2024. At this same university he developed the degree of Trilingual Primary Education (2021) and the master of Psychodidactics (2022). Her family’s bilingual background and experiences lived abroad and in teaching have had a major influence on her professional trajectory; in this way, her interest has focused on language teaching and intercultural dynamics. Her research, led by María Orcasitas-Vicandi and Andrea Perales-Fernández-de-Gamboa, focuses on the impact of an innovative, plurilingual and multimodal thought methodology for Primary Education, as in the case of Basque, Spanish and pupils’ English reading and drafting ability. In addition, during this PhD process, the opportunity to study at the South African University of Stellenbosch has brought her closer to culturally sustainable pedagogies.

Ane Olmedillo-Berasategi is a PhD candidate in Psychodidactics: Psychology of Education and Specific Didactics from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She currently works as a lecturer in the Department of Education Sciences, Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology (UPV/EHU), while she works Therapeutic Pedagogy teacher in Secondary Education within the Basque educational system.

María Orcasitas-Vicandi is a professor in the Department of English and German Philology, Translation and Interpretation at the UPV. She holds a degree in English Philology and two masters in Multilingual Education and Teacher Training. She has extensive teaching experience in Secondary Education, Vocational Training and UPV. She is also dedicated to teacher training and has participated in the design and development of teaching materials for different educational levels. The results of her research activity have been published in the form of books, articles and book chapters, both nationally and internationally. Likewise, she actively participates in scientific congresses and their organizing committees and acts as a reviewer for academic journals. She has participated in national, autonomous and international research projects and her main lines of research are plurilingual education and second and third language learning, always from an inclusive perspective and understood as a social education tool.

Dr Andrea Perales-Fernández-de-Gamboa is based in the Basque Country, where she works as a lecturer and researcher in language education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Her work sits at the intersection of applied linguistics and teacher education, with a particular focus on translanguaging, culturally sustaining pedagogies, multilingual identities, and social and cognitive justice in language education. Her research is grounded in classroom-based studies in linguistically and culturally diverse secondary schools, especially in contexts where minority and minoritised languages coexist. Through her work, she is particularly interested in how language teaching can challenge deficit perspectives and better prepare teachers for multilingual educational realities. She is a member of the research group "País Vasco, Europa y América: Vínculos y Relaciones Atlánticas".

Nerea Villabona is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Didactics of Languageand Literature at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), where she teachesin the Primary Education and Early Childhood Education degree programs. Her research lies in the field of language and multilingual education, with particularemphasis on language ideologies, multilingual teaching approaches, and classroompractices. She has presented her work at numerous national and internationalconferences on multilingualism in education and has published in peer-reviewedjournals. She has also conducted research stays at the University of Minnesota andBoise State University (USA), as well as at the Université de Montréal (Canada).