Multilingual learners (MLs) students spend most of their school time with their teachers, who often feel professionally unprepared to meet their linguistically diverse students' needs. As such, preparing teachers for increasing numbers of multilingual learners (MLs) has become a critical factor in promoting equity and success for all students in our global society. This book explores and highlights the reflective narratives of teacher educators, in-service, and preservice teachers. It shows how these narratives are grounded in their personal lives, professional training, and daily teaching, and how they can unfold the complexities in their various experiences and the rich implications for MLs teaching and teacher preparation. The book presents papers that utilize teachers' reflective narratives to prepare and train teachers who are or will be working with MLs. It discusses the challenges and implications of teaching groups of MLs made up of diverse learners, including immigrants, refugees, and learners with disabilities.
'This book seeks to change the narrative of some of our most vulnerable student populations by giving voice to the experiences, challenges, success, and best practices encountered in the international education landscape. The power contained within each chapter is the systematic and intentional reflections that bring the marginalized stories to the center of the discussion. Anyone seeking an understanding of how reflective narrative can build equity and social justice for multilingual learners will appreciate the breadth of experience described. This understanding is critical for culturally and linguistically diverse teaching and learning.' Jordan González, Ph.D., St. John's University, NY
About the Author: Dr. Huili Hong is an associate professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Towson University. Her research interests include literacy studies focusing on teacher education, children's language and literacy processes, interdisciplinary literacy studies, and multilingual learners. Dr. Hong's work has been published in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, International Journal of Early Childhood, Journal of Childhood Studies, Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy, Classroom Discourse, etc. She currently serves on the editorial board of Urban Education and as the co-chair of Area 8 Literacy Practices Literacy Learning and Practice in Multicultural & Multilingual Contexts of Literacy Research Association (U.S.A.), and the assistant coordinator of Reading, Writing & Literacy Strand of International Association of Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages.
Patricia Rice Doran, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Towson University. Her research interests include cultural and language diversity, preservice teacher preparation, professional development, and neurodevelopment and neurological disorders. At Towson, she is Principal Investigator for the EMPOWER project, a five-year teacher training initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition. She also advises undergraduate students and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in special education and language diversity. Dr. Rice Doran has published widely on topics related to supports for diverse learners and teacher professional development. Her most recent book, Supporting English Learners with Exceptional Needs, with Amy Noggle, Ph.D., was published in 2019 by TESOL International Press.
