Grapping with Linguistic and Cultural Diversity: Subject Teachers’ Shifting Identities

Since the 1960s, the United Kingdom (UK) has seen significant trends in migration that has resulted in a more linguistically and culturally diverse society. As a result, teachers across the UK are working with increasing numbers of students learning English as an additional language (EAL).

School policies across the UK specify a Framework for Inclusion where EAL students are placed in mainstream classrooms. Subject teachers are expected to meet the needs of these students without having had sufficient training to do so. While policy prioritizes integration and inclusion, little attention is given to expanding the knowledge base of teachers in relation to the development of literacies for pupils learning EAL.

This paper synthesises the findings from four large studies across the UK that set out to explore the perceptions and practices of subject teachers and teacher educators about how the literacy needs of EAL students are met. These studies explored two research questions: How do teachers talk about their sense of self and their confidence as professionals as they reflect on how to meet the literacy needs of students learning EAL? How do these insights help us to understand what input and approaches are needed across teacher education programmes? These studies employed a range of methods: surveys, interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations with subject teachers and teacher educators.

A sociocultural lens was used to examine these perceptions and practices and the interpretation of the findings has drawn on current theorizing on teacher identity and future-oriented literacies. Findings revealed that responding appropriately to the literacy needs of EAL students was not simply a technical matter, but tied more deeply to issues of professional identity. The paper concludes with recommendations for both pre and in-service teacher education programmes.