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Is Multilingual Inclusion at a Turning Point?
- Anna Leaman
- 29 minutes ago
- 5 min read
What schools might be ready to release (and what will move learning forward)
Multilingual inclusion feels like it's at a turning point, shaped as much by the assumptions we hold as by the progress we want to see. And whilst inclusion is spoken about with confidence in schools: featuring in policies, improvement plans, and strategic conversations; when we look closely at the everyday experience of multilingual learners, a more searching question emerges...not whether inclusion is named, but whether it is shaping learning, participation, and opportunity in real and visible ways.
In parts of the world where the Lunar New Year is widely celebrated, this time of year is often described as a movement from one energy to another. And for this year, we find ourselves coming out of a Snake year (associated with shedding and releasing what no longer fits) and into a Horse year (symbolising momentum, direction, and forward movement.). You don’t need to follow the lunar calendar to recognise the value of that rhythm and the symbolism at play here; schools, too, benefit from moments where they pause, let go, and then move forward with greater clarity.
This feels like one of those moments: an invitation to examine what we are holding onto in our school communities and whether it still serves learners, teachers, and families as well as we think it does.
The Work of the Snake: What No Longer Serves?
1) Deficit views of language and learning
Multilingual learners are still too-often framed in terms of what they lack: English proficiency, academic vocabulary, confidence. Over time, this shapes expectations, curriculum access, and decisions about support. Rightly or wrongly, it shapes how teachers can view the whole child.
Research in multilingual education has been consistent for decades. Jim Cummins’ work shows that language development and cognitive development are inseparable. Students develop academic language most effectively through meaningful, intellectually demanding learning; not by waiting until their English is deemed “ready”.
Asset-based frameworks build on this by showing how culturally and linguistically diverse learners bring knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking that actively support learning. When these assets are overlooked, schools shed opportunity rather than assumptions.
Letting go of deficit thinking is slow, deliberate work; it requires noticing what has become too tight, too limiting and too outdated for the learners we serve now.
2) Silence mistaken for learning
Quiet classrooms are often taken as evidence of focus or control (hands up that I've been guilty of relishing those quiet moments in a classroom and making the same assumption in the past). For multilingual learners, silence more commonly reflects uncertainty: about language, about expectations, or about whether their contribution will be valued.
Neil Mercer’s research on exploratory talk shows that structured dialogue improves reasoning, language development, and attainment. Learners need regular opportunities to rehearse ideas aloud, collaboratively, before academic language can be used with confidence.
Participation does not happen automatically. It must be designed for. Without that design, classrooms remain static — orderly, perhaps, but not moving the learning forward.
3) Systems that prioritise sameness over access
Applying the same tasks and assessments to all students can feel fair. Without attention to language demands, these systems often measure English proficiency rather than subject understanding.
Luis Moll’s work on Funds of Knowledge highlights how students’ cultural and linguistic resources are frequently ignored by school systems. When that happens, schools respond to gaps in performance rather than addressing access to learning itself.
This is Snake work too: recognising where systems have hardened, and where shedding is needed to allow growth.
The Work of the Horse: What Schools Are Ready to Strengthen
If the Snake asks us to let go, the Horse asks a different question: what now carries us forward?
Across the UK and internationally, schools are increasingly shifting from isolated support to whole-school multilingual inclusion. When this happens, there is a noticeable change in pace. Practice aligns; confidence builds; and learning gains momentum.
So what could we move forwards with, with more momentum and pace?
1) Asset-based pedagogy
When students’ languages, cultures, and experiences are treated as resources, classrooms move differently. Students participate more readily. Teachers plan with greater clarity. Assessment becomes a more accurate reflection of learning and to move the learning forwards through.
Rather than lowering expectations, this is really about removing barriers so that all learners can move at speed towards their fullest potential.
2) Language-rich teaching across the curriculum
In schools where multilingual learners thrive, language development is planned for deliberately in every subject. Structured talk, explicit modelling, and collaborative learning are part of everyday teaching.
Evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation highlights the impact of these approaches, particularly for learners using English as an additional language. When language is built into teaching, progress accelerates and reliance on reactive intervention decreases.
This is Horse energy in action: forward motion through intentional design.
3) Participation, representation, and belonging
Belonging is visible. It shows up in who speaks, whose knowledge is recognised, and who shapes the learning space.
Inclusion measures can help schools see whether students experience school as a place where they participate, are recognised, and see themselves represented. Research links these experiences to attendance, persistence, and willingness to take academic and linguistic risks.
Traditional indicators however, such as attainment, behaviour, or attendance data rarely capture this nuance, which is why many schools are now looking more closely at participation and belonging through richer, more relevant data. Tools such as the inclusion index developed by the Global Equality Collective support schools in understanding whose voices are present, whose are missing, and how inclusion is experienced across the community — with clear implications for parent confidence, retention, and reputation.
A Strategic Lens
At EAL Inclusive, we work with schools that want progress they can sustain. Research and experience point to the same conditions again and again:
Leadership aligned around a clear, inclusive vision
Shared understanding of multilingual and asset-based pedagogy
Teaching that adapts to real learners
Strong collaboration and professional confidence
Explicit focus on essential learning skills
Deep knowledge of students as whole children
When these elements are in place, schools move forward with purpose rather than pressure, and we're able to naturally shake off the outdated models associated with deficit thinking and siloed support.
A Closing Reflection
As joyful as these metaphors are (to me anyway), the Snake and the Horse offer a useful reminder. Progress is not only about movement. It is also about knowing what to release before we move forwards.
So:
Which assumptions are ready to be shed?
What needs strengthening so learning can gather pace?
Where would greater clarity unlock momentum?
And as a Wood Ox, I’m naturally drawn to steady, values-led work that is built to last. That perspective shapes how I approach multilingual inclusion - though there is more to say about that another time...
For now, meaningful progress lies in shedding what restricts growth, and then moving forward — together — with intention and direction.