EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION OF CHILDREN FROM BILINGUAL FAMILIES - PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS Rozana Petani 1 , Matilda Karamatić Brčić 1 , Tamara Baždarić 2 1 University of Zadar (CROATIA) 2 High school Vladimir Nazor Zadar (CROATIA) Abstract The inclusion of children from bilingual families in educational system ought to be considered from pedagogical perspective since the emphasis is placed both on upbringing and education. The subject of bilingualism is relevant to social and pedagogical context in terms of the application of new methods and forms of work to the process of bilingual development of children in families as well as in educational institutions. Whether monolingual, bilingual or multilingual a family is one of the most important factors for child development having almost crucial influence on a child’s personality. The aim of this paper is to present the role of bilingualism in the family context which is the primary factor of education as well as its role in the context of the later inclusion of bilingual children in the institutional system of education. In the context of this study bilingualism is defined as simultaneous acquisition of two languages up to pre-school years with special emphasis being placed on ’’one parent-one language’’ method. The upbringing of a child represents a way to raise the awareness about the sense of belonging to a particular environment; it is a way to increase the awareness of personal and cultural identity for every family, above all, for bilingual families with both parents aspiring to convey their language, culture and history to a child. In order to highlight some of the common parental misconceptions about the negative impact of simultaneous bilingualism on speech and language development in children this paper provides an overview of speech and language development in bilingual children compared to monolingual children, while emphasizing at the same time the belief that the success parents would reach in bilingual education is above all directly related to their personal definition of a family and their attitudes towards bilingualism. Bilingual education and bilingualism are challenges placed in front of the entire family and educational institutions. Such perception highlights the relevance of the theme in wider social and narrow pedagogical context. Keywords: bilingualism, simultaneous bilingualism, educational institution, family, inclusion, parenting. 1 SOME FEATURES OF MULTILINGUALISM AND EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION IN CROATIA In the context of this study bilingualism is considered as pedagogical and social phenomenon. The positive effects of bilingualism mostly depend on social factors, or the type of bilingual community which the bilingual speakers belong to [13]. In the contemporary educational discourse, multilingualism represents a challenge for a wider social and narrow pedagogical context in which the emphasis is on a clearly defined role of the family and teachers in the educational process and life. Baker and Prys Jones (1998) classify the benefits of being bilingual in the following three groups: communicative, cultural and cognitive. In the context of this study, all three aspects are intertwined in problematizing the relationship between multilingualism, family and educational environment. The inclusion of children from bilingual families in the educational process is called educational inclusion. Educational inclusion is focused on the inclusion of all children in the regular education system whereby the emphasis is not only put on the inclusion of children with specific intellectual or physical disabilities, but also the socially marginalised, culturally deprived and ethnic minority children in a country. Given the subject matter of this paper, all of the above can be linked to the role of bilingualism in families, as well as to the situation of children in a bilingual environment in the context of their growing up and adjustment in the education system. The World Conference on Education for All [28] establishes six key education goals directed towards educational policy and educational practice of each country which are the following: expand and improve early childhood care and education, provide free compulsory education for all, promote quality learning and life skills for young people and adults, increase adult literacy, achieve gender equality in primary and secondary education, ensure the quality education for all children. The implementation of inclusive practices in schools in the Republic of Croatia implies in between the inclusion of ethnic minority children in education system as well. Despite the fact that there is no one single education policy document in Croatia that would Proceedings of INTED2015 Conference 2nd-4th March 2015, Madrid, Spain ISBN: 978-84-606-5763-7 1116