10 Things School Leaders Can Do to Support Young Multilingual Learners

*Today’s guest post is by Karen Nemeth, author of Young Dual Language Learners.

There are many ways for teachers to learn about research and practice that can help them teach young children from diverse language backgrounds. For the most effective and lasting improvement, however, their leaders must work with them to develop a school-wide system of resources, policies, and supports for language diversity.

High-functioning schools provide cohesive guidance about teaching children who are multilingual learners (MLLs), also referred to as dual language learners (DLLs) or emerging bilinguals (EBs). Applicable to students of all abilities, in any type of classroom, the 10 systems-based strategies in this post are based on the book Young Dual Language Learners: A Guide for PreK-3 Leaders. These strategies answer some of the top concerns we are hearing from teachers.

Prepare teachers, paraprofessionals, and staff to work effectively with multilingual learners. Staff who are bilingual need guidance about how and when to use their languages to build literacy, learning, and a sense of belonging. Those who don’t speak the different languages need skills and information to ensure every child is getting the most from their early learning experience. Paraprofessionals can play an important role by engaging with young MLLs in play, conversation, and exploration, especially if they speak the languages of the children.

Develop a cohesive system of policies and supports that is understood and used by all members of the school community. Children and educators thrive in a school setting that offers consistent, appropriate policies about approaches to teaching young MLLs—and all the children.  Plan for effective collaborations to design environments, purchase curriculum materials, and facilitate sharing among staff.

Have a unified approach to partnering with diverse families. It takes a whole school to fully engage with families—not just an added job on the shoulders of each teacher. Schools can make less work for each teacher while improving the experiences of linguistically diverse families when they reduce paperwork, increase a sense of security and belonging, facilitate communication, and/or centralize translating and interpreting services.

Work together to create a language plan for each classroom, every year. With the support of school leaders, there should be a plan for each classroom based on the languages spoken by the teacher and assistant that year and the languages needed for the children in each classroom. This plan determines who will speak which language(s) and at what times of the day. It also facilitates planning between the teacher and paraprofessional and informs the administration about their needs for materials and professional learning.

Focus on implementation of specific strategies for language development. This would be in addition to cultural and linguistical responsiveness. Children who are multilingual learners or emerging bilinguals need intentional supports for first and second language development. These include ways to enhance comprehension, methods to facilitate expression, and frequent opportunities to check for learning.  Bring in experts, webinars, or print resources for staff to learn key components of language development that should be supported using each child’s home language and scaffolding for English.

Plan together to obtain materials that will be used to enrich learning for all the children. Instead of ordering all supplies months in advance, assist teachers in being responsive to the interests and needs of the children by working together to obtain materials when needed throughout the year. This may change purchasing patterns or increase access to local sources or borrowed materials. Leaders should avoid making large orders of materials that teachers haven’t requested or that they don’t know how to use. Collaboration on planning and acquiring materials is key to successful teaching in multilingual classrooms.

Engage in job-embedded professional development. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff can benefit from coaching, mentoring, professional learning communities, and other forms of ongoing, personalized professional learning that help them work more effectively in a linguistically diverse environment. That might also include arranging language learning classes, apps, or groups to help staff communicate with children and families as needed.

Advocate on behalf of teachers to get the support they need to implement the curriculum. When a curriculum is purchased for the school, it is up to the school leaders to make it clear to the company that they expect supports to implement the curriculum properly in linguistically diverse classrooms. Teachers should be able to ask questions and learn specialized strategies to teach the MLLs in their classes. This will yield success for them, their students, and the curriculum.

Emphasize the importance of small groups and two-way conversations that build individualized learning opportunities for all children. Leaders, evaluators, coaches, and colleagues should work together with the goal of hearing more child talk and less teacher talk in classrooms. Two-way conversations in home languages, English, or via translanguaging help children engage, process, and advance in their language, literacy, and cognitive skill development. Teachers need to know that their supervisors encourage a more interactive style of teaching that builds oral language and gives teachers information about what their MLLs understand and can do.

Manage a program of bilingual volunteers that helps them learn to provide high-quality two-way interactions with the children. Bilingual volunteers might be family members, other staff, participants from local universities, or members of the community. In most cases, they will have the desire to help and the language skills needed, but they may not be prepared with a full understanding of how you interact with the children in your program. Provide a brief training or post videos they can view to get an idea of the kinds of questions, explorations, and responses you want to see.

Working together as a whole school community builds so much strength and responsiveness. Each job in a school can be challenging—but working together makes things easier and more rewarding for everyone who works in a diverse setting. For more details, get the book behind today’s guest post: Young Dual Language Learners by Karen Nemeth.