Cultivating Psychological Capital: Inservice Teachers’ Exploration of Asset-Based Practices for Multilingual Learners

• In Event: Building Bridges & Capacity: Equitable Professional Development for Multilingual Learner Achievement

Abstract

This study examined how in-service teachers activated psychological capital (PsyCap) – hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism – during a professional development course focused on linguistic features necessary to teach multilingual learners. Asynchronous discussions in a linguistics course for inservice teachers pursuing an ESOL endorsement were analyzed for this study. Findings revealed that teachers reestablished goals of affirming students’ linguistic identities and supporting additional language acquisition. They also projected positive outlook (optimism) toward the approaches they would use for multilingual learners by discussing potential benefits. By validating each other’s comments, teachers amplified asset-based perspectives and efforts to support language acquisition. This study highlights how PD can foster teachers’ PsyCap, enabling reflective pedagogies that support multilingual learners’ growth and inclusion.

Authors

• Kwangok Song, University of Kansas

• Rachel Kook, University of Kansas

• Lonna Sue Summers, University of Kansas

• Tong Xu, University of Kansas