Trekking Across Some Rough Terrain: Rural Teacher Education for Multilingual Students

ABSTRACT

Although the number of multilingual (ML) students continues to rise nationally, little scholarly attention has been paid to the education of rural ML students and families. There is critical need to better understand who rural ML students are and how to align their linguistic knowledge and strengths with appropriate instructional practices. This article examines the current state of research on rural teacher education for ML students. It addresses two areas of the 10 research priorities articulated by the National Rural Education Association’s (NREA) Research Agenda 2016–2021 and enhanced and extended in 2022–2027: building the capacity to meet the needs of diverse populations and teacher-leader preparation for rural schools. A search of four major research databases for work in this area revealed 27 empirical studies published between 2010 and 2022. Three main research categories emerged from the review: (1) six studies on the beliefs and perceptions of teachers on their education and preparation for rural MLs; (2) eight studies related to rural teacher identity and MLs; and (3) 13 studies on teacher leadership, professional development, and collaboration and partnerships for rural MLs. Implications and recommendations for future rural research on ML students in the United States are provided.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ We retain the use of EL or ELL when used by the authors whose work appears in this review.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria R. Coady

Maria R. Coady, PhD is Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity and a Professor of Multilingual Education at North Carolina State University. She received her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she studied bilingualism and bilingual education. Dr. Coady examines multilingualism and bilingual education, rural education, teacher-leader preparation, and language policies. Her books include The Coral Way Bilingual Program (2020), Connecting School and the Multilingual Home: Theory and Practice for Rural Educators (2019), Why TESOL? (5^th ed., with E. Ariza), and Early Language Learning Policies in the 21st Century (with S. Zein, 2021). Her new edited book (2023) is Educating Multilingual Students in Rural Schools: Illuminating Diversity in Rural Communities in the United States (with P. Golombek and N. Marichal). Dr. Coady consults with the U.S. Department of Justice on language rights. In 2020 she was awarded the AERA Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research award.

Nidza V. Marichal

Nidza V. Marichal, PhD, is a Research Associate at the University of Florida. She received a BS from Yale University and MA and PhD degrees from the University of Florida. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Marichal spent 20 years teaching Spanish Language and Culture at the K–12 level where she learned that being authentic while building trusting relationships with students is central to advance and humanize the educational experience. Her work with secondary teachers in rural Florida illuminates both the impact of rurality on the education of English learners (ELs) and the importance of place-based instruction that meets the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Dr. Marichal continues to advance understandings of the unique lived experiences of Puerto Rican students in the United States. Her research topics include multilingual/bilingual education, teacher education for ELs, secondary and rural EL education, and the U.S. Puerto Rican experience.

Huseyin Uysal

Huseyin Uysal, PhD is a visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Educational Studies at Knox College. Guided by constructivist and critical thought, his scholarship seeks to promote youth engagement and student voice and to support teachers who prepare to work in linguistically diverse contexts. Specific constructs that interest him include multilingual test-taker perspectives on assessment practices, social consequences of testing, English learner reclassification, and plurilingualism in public schools. His work has appeared in venues such as TESOL Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Linguistics and Education, and Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk. He is serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Education for Multilingualism and as Associate Editor of the Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology.