Core Practices for Teaching Multilingual Students: Humanizing Pedagogies for Equity

This book provides practical and accessible resources for teaching multilingual students effectively, focusing on six core practices that humanize instruction and center equity and justice in practice. It offers real-world examples from ESOL teachers and includes templates and additional resources for teachers to use.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 27 January 2023
Publisher: Teachers' College Press

This practical and accessible resource is designed to help educators effectively and equitably teach multilingual students. The authors share real-world examples from the classrooms of ESOL teachers, unpacking their thinking about instruction and identifying six core practices that are foundational to teaching multilingual students:

Understanding Your Multilingual Students: Recognizing the unique backgrounds, languages, and cultures of your multilingual students is essential. This includes understanding their language proficiency levels, learning styles, and cultural beliefs and practices.

Building a Positive Learning Environment: Creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment where all students feel valued and respected is crucial. This includes promoting positive classroom behavior, fostering positive relationships among students, and providing opportunities for student voice and choice.

Integrating Content and Language Instruction: Integrating content and language instruction means teaching academic subjects through the language students speak. This involves using language-rich activities, providing opportunities for students to practice and apply their language skills, and incorporating cultural references and perspectives into the curriculum.

Supporting Language and Literacy Development: Supporting language and literacy development involves providing students with the necessary skills and strategies to read, write, speak, and listen in their primary language. This includes teaching vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills, as well as providing opportunities for students to engage in reading and writing activities.

Using Assessment: Assessment is an essential tool for teaching multilingual students. It allows educators to measure student progress, identify areas of strength and weakness, and tailor instruction to meet individual student needs. Different assessment strategies, such as standardized tests, classroom assessments, and performance tasks, can be used to evaluate student learning.

Developing Positive Relationships and Engaging in Advocacy: Developing positive relationships with students, families, and the community is essential for teaching multilingual students effectively. This includes building trust, communicating effectively, and advocating for the needs of multilingual students. Engaging in advocacy involves promoting policies and practices that support multilingual education and advocating for the rights of multilingual students.

The book focuses on how K–12 teachers can use these core practices in ways that humanize their instruction. It emphasizes the importance of positioning students as whole human beings, valuing the assets and resources they bring to the classroom, actively involving them in rigorous instruction that draws on their experiences and knowledge, responding to each unique learning context, and disrupting traditional power dynamics in education. By implementing these core practices, educators can create learning environments that are equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive, and that support the academic and linguistic development of multilingual students.

The book also includes templates and additional resources that help teachers extend the use of core practices to their own planning. These resources include lesson plans, activities, and assessment tools that can be adapted to different grade levels and subject areas. Additionally, the book provides access to supplementary video clips depicting teachers as they engage in these practices and discuss their use. These video clips offer a deeper understanding of the core practices and provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own instruction and identify areas for improvement.

In conclusion, this book is a valuable resource for pre- and in-service teachers of multilingual students. It provides practical strategies and insights that can help educators effectively and equitably teach multilingual students. By implementing these core practices, educators can create learning environments that are equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive, and that support the academic and linguistic development of multilingual students.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780807768204