Multilingual approaches have been gaining momentum in English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) education in Australian education systems. There is long-standing interest in multilingual learning design and classroom practice from teachers in linguistically diverse schools, and increasing recognition of multilingual pedagogies from education authorities. This is accompanied by teachers’ apprehension about the challenges to their practice and professional identity that developing a multilingual stance entails. Thus, a need for teacher professional learning is generated.
The background to this presentation is an ethnographic study revealing students’ multilingual practices in a highly linguistically diverse Australian school, and teachers’ responses to this. The findings from this study have not only generated new classroom practice, but also informed education for in-service and pre-service teachers.
Educating teachers about multilingual pedagogies involves not just a focus on classroom practice, but also a reorientation towards their role in creating, maintaining and challenging language policy within schools and systems. Supporting this multilingual stance in teachers (who already face ever-expanding demands on their time and expertise) requires internal reflection and contextualisation in relation to broader educational and cultural structures. This criticality is not always welcomed by educational authorities who seek professional learning for their teachers.
I will discuss two strands of in-service teacher professional learning for multilingual pedagogies. The first is the provision of professional development programs to EAL/D teachers at system level in four Australian states. These programs differed in their scope and reach, and in the curricular and professional support provided by each system. They shared the expectation of an instructional design based around once-off workshops and teacher resources, with practical classroom-focussed content. The major challenge in this model was in incorporating the criticality, reflexivity and creativity required for successful multilingual learning and teaching. How does a teacher educator develop teachers’ agency to challenge dominant language ideologies and practices within a program that is overseen by the very educational systems that reinforce conventional monolingual understandings of curriculum and teaching?
The second strand of teacher development is a school-based approach engaging EAL/D teachers as leaders in multilingual pedagogies within their school site. In this example, EAL/D teachers worked to develop a professional learning program for their colleagues in all learning areas, spanning the academic year. The program design was grounded in the local context and the perceived needs of teachers for professional learning that engaged them as co-learners alongside their multilingual and EAL/D students. Positive outcomes from this program included mutual learning of teachers and students, and more inclusive classroom practices. Still, perpetual challenges remain in terms of teachers’ access to resources, particularly time and creative energy.
Choi, J., French, M. and Ollerhead, S. (2020). Introduction, Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics. https://www.castledown.com.au/journals/ajal/article/?reference=283
French, M. (2016) ‘Students’ multilingual resources and policy-in-action: an Australian case study’, Language and Education. Taylor & Francis, 30(4), pp. 298–316. doi: 10.1080/09500782.2015.1114628.
Ollerhead, S., Choi, J. and French, M. (2018) ‘Introduction’, in Choi, J. and Ollerhead, S. (eds) Plurilingualism in Teaching and Learning. New York: Routledge, pp. 1–18.
