Teaching VIA Culture: Evaluating the Introduction of Heritage Based Lesson Plans for Second Language Acquisition in Multicultural Classrooms

As classrooms across the world are becoming increasingly multicultural, educators are facing challenges regarding second language teaching and learning alongside issues around classroom cohesion. Additionally, students may experience further challenges as regards their social inclusion, both in school and also in the wider community. Drama in Education and Cultural Heritage Education have both proved beneficial in addressing some of these issues. This chapter presents the outcomes of the VIA Culture project, which used a combined cultural heritage education and drama approach to second language acquisition in four different European multicultural education contexts. This approach is presented, along with the student and staff evaluations on the teaching phase of the project. Statistical analysis of the teaching data shows that teaching through heritage and drama may increase student success, whilst simultaneously boosting student confidence and satisfaction.