23 apr “It is mei sizzen net te dwaan”: The role of Frisian language in active citizenship education

From August 2026, all schools in Frisia must ensure that pupils actively learn to use the Frisian language. This is to strengthen the position of the Frisian language in education and stimulate pupils to become active participants in Frisian culture. The return of Frisian language instruction in secondary schools in Frisia is however not just a regional policy shift towards language and identity preservation. It offers a meaningful opportunity to rethink what multilingualism in active citizenship education entails and can look like in practice.

“It is mei sizzen net te dwaan” (“actions speak louder than words”) is a typical Frisian saying used to emphasise actions rather than words to encourage decisiveness and resilience. It can be used to argue that meaningful civic engagement requires tangible actions, such as volunteering, advocating or protesting, rather than merely verbalising support for social change. Indeed, while words can express community concerns, active citizenship requires people to do something to prove sincerity and commitment to influence society. At the same time, active democratic participation in society also requires the ‘correct’ language skills. Language then is not merely a neutral means of communication, but a critical medium through which citizenship is practiced and enacted, which might include some but exclude others.

Hence, the reintroduction of Frisian in secondary education in Friesland marks more than a curricular adjustment. It signals a renewed commitment to linguistic diversity, cultural identity and democratic participation. In a time when education systems across Europe are grappling with how to prepare students for life in increasingly plural and diverse societies, the case of Frisian offers a compelling example of how regional languages can enrich active citizenship education in diverse classrooms. Too often, citizenship education is framed in abstract terms, without sufficient attention to the lived realities of students. Language is one of those realities. It shapes how individuals express themselves, how they relate to others and how they see their place in society. By bringing Frisian back into the classroom, schools in Friesland have an opportunity to connect active citizenship education to students’ linguistic and cultural environments in a meaningful way.

This is obviously not only the case in Frisia. Across Europe, secondary school classrooms are becoming increasingly multilingual due to the effects of migration, mobility and globalization. At the same time, national education systems are tasked with fostering active democratic citizens. Yet there is a growing mismatch between these ambitions and classroom realities. While active citizenship education is widely promoted, it often overlooks the role of language in shaping participation and inclusion. This creates a central problem. Active citizenship education assumes meaningful participation, but participation is mediated through language. When pupils do not fully master or feel recognized in the dominant school language, their ability to engage in democratic dialogue is limited.

A (very) brief history of Frisian

What makes the reintroduction of Frisian language significant in terms of identity and power? Frisian is one of the oldest living languages in Europe and occupies a unique position within the Germanic language family. Linguistically, it is the closest relative of English, sharing features that date back to early medieval times. Historically, Frisian was spoken along a coastal stretch from what is now the Netherlands to northern Germany and parts of Denmark. During the Middle Ages, Frisian enjoyed a period of relative prestige and autonomy. The region was known for the so-called “Frisian freedom,” a tradition of local self-governance that distinguished it from surrounding feudal territories. The language was used in legal and administrative contexts, reinforcing its status as more than just a vernacular.

This position began to change from the late medieval period onward. Political shifts brought Friesland under the control of external powers, and Dutch gradually became the dominant language of administration, education and public life. Over time, Frisian was increasingly confined to informal domains such as the home and local community. By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Frisian had come to be seen by some as a dialect rather than a fully-fledged language, and its use in formal settings was limited. However, this period also saw the emergence of a cultural revival movement. Writers, scholars and activists began to promote Frisian literature, standardize the language and advocate for its recognition.

Different events drew national attention and ultimately contributed to policy changes that allowed Frisian to be used in legal contexts. In the decades that followed, Frisian gained increasing institutional support. It is now recognized as an official language in the Netherlands and is protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Frisian is used in media, administration and education, although its vitality varies across contexts and generations. Despite these gains, challenges remain. The dominance of Dutch and the pressures of globalization mean that Frisian must continually be supported and revitalized. Education plays a crucial role in this process, not only by teaching the language itself but by shaping attitudes toward its value and relevance. By combining Dutch and Frisian, together with international languages such as English, Arabic or Spanish, can potentially reshape the educational landscape.

Possibilities for multilingualism in active citizenship education

Multilingualism in education refers to using at least three languages as mediums of instruction to improve learning outcomes, inclusion and cognitive development. It allows students to bridge their home language with additional languages, fostering better comprehension of complex subjects. It views multilingual individuals as drawing on a unified linguistic repertoire. In practice, this means that pupils use multiple languages flexibly to think, learn and communicate. If  minority languages indeed become a resource rather than a barrier, what then happens in classrooms, the training arena’s of active citizenship education?

1. Enhancing participation

When pupils can use their full linguistic repertoire, barriers to participation are reduced. They can express complex ideas even if they are not fully proficient in the dominant language. This makes classroom dialogue more inclusive and democratic. Consider a classroom discussion about climate change. A pupil may struggle to articulate their opinion in Dutch but can explain it more clearly by mixing Dutch with Frisian. Instead of remaining silent, they contribute meaningfully by drawing on all their linguistic resources, similar to what people do in everyday conversations with friends or family, where switching between languages helps them express nuance and emotion.

2. Recognizing identity

Language is closely tied to identity. When schools validate multiple languages, including regional and minority languages like Frisian, they affirm pupils’ complex identities. This sense of recognition is crucial for fostering belonging and engagement among pupils. A pupils who speaks Frisian at home but Dutch at school may feel that part of their identity is “left at the door” when entering the classroom. If a teacher invites pupils to share experiences or opinions in both languages, that pupil’s home identity becomes visible and valued, similar to how people naturally switch languages at home, at work, or with different social groups to reflect who they are in each context.

3. Developing critical awareness

Moving between languages encourages reflection on how meaning is constructed. This supports critical thinking, which is an essential component of active citizenship. Pupils might notice that certain words related to community or identity exist in Frisian but not in exactly the same way in Dutch (take ‘Mienskip’ as an example). Discussing why that is can lead to deeper conversations about culture, history, and perspective. In everyday life, this happens when bilingual people realize that a joke, proverb, or political slogan “works” in one language but not in another, which prompts reflection on how language shapes meaning.

4. Addressing inequality

By challenging monolingual norms, multilingualism helps expose and counteract the ways in which language can reproduce inequality. Dominant language practices can marginalize pupils and limit their participation in civic dialogue. In public settings, such as municipal meetings or online forums, people who are less confident in the dominant language often participate less. In school, allowing pupils to prepare arguments in multiple languages before presenting them can level the playing field. This mirrors everyday situations where people might first discuss ideas in their strongest language (e.g. at home) before expressing them in a more formal or dominant language in public.

5. Connecting to real-world citizenship

Multilingual communication is increasingly becoming a reality in contemporary societies. Preparing pupils for active citizenship means equipping them to navigate linguistic diversity, not avoid it. In cities and regions across the Netherlands, people regularly interact across languages, whether in workplaces, neighbourhoods or digital spaces. A young person might speak Dutch at school, Frisian with family and English online. Multilingualism in education reflects this reality by preparing pupils to move flexibly between languages when discussing societal issues, collaborating with others or participating in civic life.

More than language preservation

The Frisian context therefore offers a particularly rich setting for applying these ideas and explore future possibilities. Concepts like multilingualism provide practical ways to enact this shift. They allow educators to connect language, identity and democratic engagement in meaningful ways. However, Frisia is not only bilingual (Frisian and Dutch), but increasingly multilingual due to the effects of migration and global connections. It is thus also important to not only focus on Frisian, but also use the momentum of this development to consider how other non-dominant languages spoken by pupils living in Frisia, can be incorporated in subjects that address active citizenship.

The reintroduction of Frisian in secondary education is not just about language preservation. It is about addressing a deeper challenge in contemporary citizenship education: how to make active citizenship truly inclusive in multilingual societies. After all, active citizenship begins with having a voice, and having a voice begins with language. As such there is a long way to go. But Frisians are in the right place to achieve this meaningful shift; “It is mei sizzen net te dwaan”.