Including Non-Dominant Languages in Educational Policy Change

Key Actors and Agency
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-78892-112-1
Verlag: Channel View Publications

Buch, Englisch, Band 158, 302 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 623 g

Reihe: Including Non-Dominant Languages in Educational Policy Change

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kosonen, Kimmo

Benson, Carol

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Spracherwerb, Sprachentwicklung
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Soziolinguistik
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Bildungssystem Bildungspolitik, Bildungsreform

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contributors

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 R. 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

Über Autor(innen)

Kosonen, Kimmo
Kimmo Kosonen is Head of Literacy and Education at the Finnish Bible Society and Advisor on Language Policy, Education and Advocacy at SIL Global. His research interests have focused on language-in-education policies across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, the role of non-dominant languages in education, and implementation of multilingual and non-formal education in low-income countries.

Benson, Carol
Carol Benson is Founder and Director of MLE International, a non-profit organization providing research and technical support to multilingual educators in low-income contexts. She has experience in teacher education, curriculum development and policy implementation in multilingual countries of the Asia/Pacific, Africa and Latin America regions.

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.