Multilingual Justice in Schools

Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is professor in the School of Education and Human Services at Molloy University, Rockville Centre, New York, where she teaches graduate courses related to cultural and linguistic diversity and TESOL methodology. She frequently offers professional learning opportunities, primarily focusing on effective content and language integration strategies and collaborative practices for ELD and bilingual/dual language specialists and general-education teachers. She coauthored over 60 articles and chapters and coauthored or coedited over 35 books.

• 1. Introduction 2. How to Recognize Multilingual Inequities and Injustices 3. How to Respond to Multilingual Inequities and Injustices 4. How to Redress Multilingual Inequities and Injustices 5. How to Cultivate Multilingual Equity and Justice 6. How to Sustain Multilingual Equity and Justice

“Andrea proposes a multilingual equity agenda focusing on students who have historically been marginalized in school, especially those whose language practices have been racialized or otherwise stigmatized as a result of deficit ideologies, institutional racism, and deskilling approaches to teaching. She brilliantly illustrates the Intersectionality of language, inequality, and social justice as she explores the past, present, and future of these issues.”—Margarita Calderón, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, Johns Hopkins University“For any practitioner, leader, or advocate committed to equity, Multilingual Justice in Schools is an indispensable guide to building schools that belong to all. It provides us with tools to recognize, redress, and cultivate environments where multilingual learners' full linguistic repertoire is treated as an asset.”—Mariana Castro, Qualitative Research Director, Multilingual Learning Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison“Some educators treat multilingual justice as an oxymoron, others envision multilingual justice as a belief system, still others embody multilingual justice as a way of being. In a carefully crafted and creative exposé, Honigsfeld artfully navigates the essential abilities of equity literacy to exemplify and sustain multilingual justice. In doing so, readers are captured by her poetic and personalized journey where, in becoming inculcated with multilingual justice, leads to taking action to transform the mindset and field of multilingual education.”—Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., Co-founder, WIDA, University of Wisconsin-Madison“Andrea Honigsfeld brings both scholarly insight and deeply personal reflection to this powerful exploration of multilingual justice. Drawing on lived experience and research, she reminds us that language is never just about communication: it is about identity, dignity, and belonging. This book challenges educators to confront linguistic inequities while offering hopeful pathways toward more inclusive schools. A timely and essential reading for anyone committed to equity in multilingual education.”—Luis Javier Pentón Herrera, 2024 TESOL Teacher of the Year and Professor at Uniwersytet VIZJA, Poland“Dr. Honigsfeld positions language as identity, agency, and a fundamental right, not simply a tool for communication. What makes this work especially impactful is its clarity and usability: she defines multilingual justice in actionable ways across classrooms, systems, and policy contexts, while bridging Paul Gorski’s equity literacy framework to the realities of multilingual learners. Reading this book, I felt deeply moved! The integration of personal narrative and rigorous scholarship is especially compelling. This work feels both human and immediately essential for educators and systems leaders seeking to enact meaningful, sustained change.”—Melissa Lambert, Executive Director, Office of Leadership and Engagement, Yonkers Public Schools, New York “Multilingual students bring extraordinary gifts to our classrooms—gifts too often overlooked, dismissed, or silenced. In Multilingual Justice in Schools, Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld names this systemic harm while offering educators a clear and hopeful path forward. Courageous, practical, and deeply necessary, this book provides both inspiration and a roadmap for ensuring multilingual students can truly thrive.”—Jennifer C. Mann, PhD, Education Research Scientist, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University"This book not only expresses a belief in language justice, it puts educators on a scholarly and practical path to expanding it. In this, Dr. Honigsfeld's work is not just powerful, it is vital to our work in school communities, and essential to our progress as a global society."—Cornelius Minor, Educator and Bestselling Author“Language rights are human rights. This axiom, contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is reinforced and amplified by Andrea Honigsfeld in this important new book. She shares what we can do to promote multilingualism and why it is important to respect the language rights of children who are learning English. She also reminds us that being literate in more than one language is an asset we should cultivate, and not something to be feared. For educators, parents, and anyone who sees language as a bridge that can unite humanity, this book will be a cherished resource.”—Pedro A. Noguera, PhD, Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California“Andrea Honigsfeld’s heart-felt ode to multilingualism and the struggle for linguistic justice draws from a broad and deep network of researchers, educators and leaders. She has turned research into reflexivity and reflexivity into poetry, art, and resources. Educators, teacher educators, parents, community activists: if you are interested in expanding your toolkit, if you are interested in exploring the potential of multilingual languaging, I recommend this text for your next book-group circle.”—Deb Palmer, Professor of Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy, University of Colorado Boulder"Andrea Honigsfeld has written a powerful and deeply necessary book for this moment in education and democracy. Multilingual justice is ultimately about whose voices are valued, whose identities are honored, and who gets to fully participate in schools and society. This book challenges educators to see multilingualism not as a deficit, but as dignity, belonging, agency, and strength. Courageous, timely, and deeply human."—Dr. Paul Bloomberg, Best-Selling Author, Metacognitive Clarity: Think Rigorously. Advance Democracy.