The first weeks of school can be filled with uncertainty for many students. For multilingual learners entering an unfamiliar school community, some challenging moments can occur in places educators don’t always think about—on the bus, in the cafeteria, and after school. I asked multilingual learners what would have helped when …
At the start of a new school year, this article reimagines teacher evaluation as a strengths-based continuum that centers educator agency and builds on the strengths of students and educators.
Discover practical, strengths-based strategies for supporting multilingual learners facing adversity while fostering belonging, engagement, resilience, and high expectations.
The words and expressions we assume everyone understands can unintentionally create barriers. By choosing language more intentionally—and explaining unfamiliar expressions—we can make communication more accessible, inclusive, and support
What can appear to be student disengagement may actually be a search for connection. A powerful exchange with school resource officers offers an important reminder of how relationships can help us better understand multilingual learners and strengthen their sense of belonging.
Multilingual learners facing adversity may develop strengths that are not always visible in school. A strengths-based approach helps educators recognize these capacities and create conditions for belonging, agency, learning, and opportunity.
When children experience fear and uncertainty, learning and well-being are affected. Educators can respond by listening, protecting students’ dignity and safety, and creating the conditions children need to learn.
Word walls are most effective when they go beyond isolated vocabulary. By identifying and teaching the terms, words, idioms, phrases, and sentence structures students need, educators can strengthen language, participation, and learning.
In this podcast, Tan Huynh speaks with Lydia Breiseth and Debbie Zacarian about the laws and policies that shape multilingual learner education and how educators can translate legal requirements into effective programs and practices.
How can educators help multilingual learners develop empowerment, agency, and resilience? A strengths-based approach creates identity-safe environments where students can recognize their strengths, exercise their voices and choices, and develop the confidence to navigate challenges.
When multilingual learners face significant adversity, educators may feel unsure how to help. An empathetic, strengths-based approach shifts the focus from perceived deficits to students’ strengths, resilience, belonging, and potential.
Empathy is essential for building meaningful connections with students, families, colleagues, and communities. Listening attentively, asking thoughtful questions, and seeking to understand others can help educators make empathy a daily practice.
Creating identity-safe schools begins with a culture of caring, trust, and compassion. Educational leaders can strengthen belonging by welcoming multilingual learners and families, listening actively, and fostering caring home-school relationships.
When schools and families work together to honor students’ identities, they strengthen belonging, confidence, and agency. Identity-safe, strengths-based practices can help children recognize their strengths, navigate adversity, and advocate for themselves and others.
Teachers College Record reviews Identity Safe Spaces at Home and School, highlighting its research-based, practical approach to identity safety, belonging, equity, and school-family partnerships.
Creating identity-safe environments requires meaningful partnerships among schools, families, and communities. Explore how strengths-based practices can foster belonging, agency, resilience, and positive identity development for all students.
Recovery has a way of reminding us that healing cannot be rushed. After a total hip replacement—and repeated reminders to slow down—I learned the value of patience, perspective, and giving ourselves time to heal.
Explore professional learning resources that help educators use a strengths-based approach to support students facing adversity by recognizing their assets and creating environments where they can thrive.
Strengthening programs for multilingual learners requires policies, practices, and structures that recognize students’ strengths, engage families as partners, and create meaningful opportunities for students to participate and thrive.
Three practical strategies can help schools recognize family strengths, strengthen communication, and build meaningful partnerships with families of multilingual learners.
