Educator Agency for Multilingual Learner Integration: A Typology of School Ecologies

Multilingual learners in the United States are often segregated for parts of the school day in ways that limit their learning opportunities. Given a resurgence in monolingual and anti-immigrant language policy, the role of educators in promoting multilingual learner integration is increasingly important. We draw from four qualitative studies conducted in different regions of the United States to examine how schools afford educators distinct opportunities to enact agency for multilingual learner integration. Through an ecological conception of agency, we examined how cultural, structural, and material resources align to create conditions that either support or undermine educator agency for multilingual learner integration. Our findings highlight the characteristics of an ecology conducive to educator agency for multilingual learner integration and have important implications for teachers, leaders, schools, and educator preparation programs working to promote multilingual learner integration in hostile political contexts. We conclude by offering a typology of ecologies for educator agency that promotes multilingual learner integration and considering implications for practice and future research.