Author Identifier (ORCID)
Sasha Janes: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1415-7143
Annamaria Paolino: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4204-8523
Christine Cunningham: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1216-9623
Abstract
Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity highlights a pressing need for teacher education programs to prepare educators who can effectively support plurilingual learners. At the same time, existing programs often fall short in building the pedagogic and linguistic knowledge required to counter dominant English-only norms. This study draws on the framework of culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies (CLSP) to explicitly centre plurilingual practices. CLSP is particularly relevant in the Australian context, where English-centric policies continue to marginalise First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) knowledges and perspectives and plurilingual ways of knowing and being. We present findings from a national study examining teacher educators’ perspectives toward CLSP within initial teacher education units across Australia. A reflective survey instrument was developed from the literature to capture CLSP perspectives from 209 teacher educators. Designed not only as a data gathering instrument, the survey also serves as a reflective tool to prompt critical self-examination and highlight areas where further development or pedagogical transformation may be needed. The results reveal variable engagement with pedagogical practices aligned with CLSP, with fluctuating levels of provision for embedding plurilingual pedagogies and English as an additional language strategies. The findings also point to tensions within teacher preparation where the need to meet standardised curriculum expectations may constrain efforts to sustain linguistic diversity. This research advances debates on situating plurilingual, justice-oriented approaches in teacher education by exploring how teacher educators can challenge linguistic hierarchies and reimagine teacher education in Australia and similar post-colonial contexts.
Keywords
Culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies, EAL/D, initial teacher education, linguistic diversity, plurilingual pedagogies, reflective practice, teacher educators
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
Publisher
Springer
School
School of Education
RAS ID
94340
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Janes, S., Paolino, A., Merewether, J., & Cunningham, C. (2026). Rethinking Australian teacher education: A reflective tool for culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-026-00107-2