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Presents a move from static descriptions of policy hierarchies to a dynamic model of actor interaction, a genuinely original analytical lens within the field.
This edited volume discusses the actions of key agents in educational policy change, focusing on shifts towards greater use of non-dominant languages in multilingual contexts. It uses Kosonen and Benson’s (2021) language-in-education policy change framework to consider actors, actions and agency at three levels: change from above, below and the side.
Chapter authors expand on and critique this framework, applying it to a wide-range of low- and middle-income countries in the Global South and considering a diverse selection of actors including academics, NGOs, advocacy groups, teachers, communities and local governments. Taking a critical look at policymaking in multilingual settings, this book explores policy timelines, trajectories of change and implications for sustainable implementation of multilingual education.
This volume will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners working in the fields of international and comparative education and language policy and planning.
This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.
Offering fresh perspectives on Kosonen and Benson’s above–side–below framework, this book explores how key actors shift between roles and shape language policy trajectories from multiple positions. Through the framework, chapters investigate varied contexts and reveal the dynamic of actors’ power, agency, and context, contributing to the discovery of the best course of action for policy change that sustains MTB-MLE implementation in diverse settings while extending and enriching the framework for research and practice.
Kimmo Kosonen has worked in the Asia-Pacific region as a consultant on multilingual education with SIL Global for over 26 years. His research focuses on language-in-education policies, the role of non-dominant languages in education, and multilingual education in low-income countries. He is currently Head of Literacy and Education at the Finnish Bible Society and Global Literacy Strategist at the United Bible Societies.
Carol Benson is founder and current co-director of MLE International, a non-profit organization providing research, networking and technical support to implementers of bi/multilingual education in low-income countries and contexts. She is an experienced development practitioner, researcher and academic who has worked in MLE teacher professional development, learner assessment and program evaluation in multilingual countries of Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions.
Carol Benson and Kimmo Kosonen: Introduction to the Volume: Background to the Framework, Key Concepts, a Meta-Level Study of the Authors and Summary of the Chapters
Chapter 1. Kimmo Kosonen and Carol Benson: Towards the Inclusion of Non-Dominant Languages in Education: Analyzing Trajectories of Policy Change, Key Actors and Agency
Chapter 2. Jessica Ball and Mariam Smith: An Actor-Focused Approach to a Theory of Change Supporting Multilingual Education in Cambodia
Chapter 3. Mirinda Burarungrot and Kirk Person: Why the Top Needs the Side: The Interplay of State and Non-State Actors in Bringing in (and Keeping) NDLs in Thailand’s Classrooms
Chapter 4. Melody Ann Ross and Kerry Taylor-Leech: The Revolving Door of Agentive Spaces for Change: Analyzing Trajectories of Change in Timor-Leste’s Multilingual Education Program
Chapter 5. Molly Kay, Non Sorn and Sam Marip: The Dual Role of Ethnic Basic Education Providers as Above and Below Actors in the Quest for Multilingual Education in Myanmar
Chapter 6. Maria Mercedes Arzadon and Fernigil Colicol: Teacher Agency and Synergistic Actions Among the Top-Side-Bottom Actors in the Philippines
Chapter 7. Franklin A. Eneh: Tamazight in Moroccan Education: The Importance of Teacher Perspectives
Chapter 8. Erina Iwasaki: The Role of Militants in Advocating For A National Bilingual Education Policy in Senegal
Chapter 9. Gabit Zhumatay: Implementing the Kazakh Language Education Policy in Kazakhstan: Policy Change from Below and the Side
Chapter 10. Stephen A. Bahry: Language Policy and Practice in Two Endangered Languages in China: Change from the Side Without Civil Society Institutions?
Chapter 11. Emma Browne and Barbara Martin Napanangka: Warlpiri Schools in Australia’s Northern Territory: Sustaining Change from Below with Championing from the Side
Chapter 12. María Pía Maití: Intercultural Bilingual Education in Chubut, Argentina
Chapter 13. Nicholas Limerick: Reconsidering Unified Kichwa as an L1 in Ecuador: Change from the Side and Below
Chapter 14. Kara Brown: Possible Worlds: Concluding Thoughts on Temporalities and Non-Dominant Language-in-Education Policies
Index