What the “periphery” can teach the “core” in the education of multilingual learners

Abstract

ABSTRACT The contributors to this special issue make a compelling case for paying greater attention to multilingual learners (MLs) in ”peripheral“ (i.e., beyond the ”core”) educational settings, including in art, drama, museum, career and technical, and world language education. In this commentary, I build on and extend their argument by proposing that a focus on the periphery has the potential not only to shine a light on settings that have received less attention in research to date, but also to help rethink the education of MLs more broadly. Specifically, lessons from the periphery about what makes learning deep for MLs could offer a fresh perspective on core content areas, such as science, mathematics, language arts, and social studies, that have been somewhat resistant to change in their purposes and structures over time. Grounded in contemporary theoretical perspectives in language education, I propose four lessons that the periphery could teach the core in the education of MLs: (a) establishing authentic purposes and audiences, (b) creating communities of practice, (c) cultivating learners’ identities, and (d) promoting multiple modalities of expression. Ultimately, this commentary seeks to initiate a dialogue between educators in the periphery and those in the core toward developing a collective vision of what it might look like to provide MLs with the deep, personally meaningful, and equitable school experiences they deserve.