Fostering Strong Language Development
Language growth flourishes when adults thoughtfully tune in, respond to, and build on children’ s growing language skills. Educators use several strategies to do this, such as conversational mapping, extensions and recasting, and open-ended questions( see“ Language-Facilitating Strategies: Definitions and Examples” for more information).
There can be several challenges to nurturing language development. An educator may not speak the same home language( s) as the children they teach, which can lead to miscommunication and feelings of frustration both for teachers and children. Though a team of educators may be bilingual, the degree of language proficiency may differ from teacher to teacher. Lastly, educators may not feel adequately supported by existing professional development. We share practices to address all these situations.
Introducing Effective Professional Development
Fostering a supportive professional growth system for preschool teachers is a top priority for the directors we have worked with. Key principles that guide this work include establishing collaborative learning communities and a strengths-based perspective.
Create Collaborative Learning Communities
Collaborative learning communities are spaces where participants share their experiences, strategies, and resources and build knowledge. Educators learn from each other’ s strengths and challenges as they solve problems together. It’ s particularly important for administrators to cultivate this space with early childhood educators. Many often have questions and are unsure about individualizing practices for multilingual learners.
At the start of the year in our partnership with the Texas district, the teacher leadership team met once every two weeks with instructional strategists to collaboratively plan lessons, share ideas, and develop support strategies for implementation. But that wasn’ t all. Lead teachers also engaged in weekly informal, relationship-based dialogues known as pláticas with their colleagues.( For more information on pláticas, see“ Using Pláticas as an Inclusive and Responsive Approach in Early Learning Settings” by Julia Guadalupe Cuevas Guerra in the Summer 2024 issue of Teaching Young Children.)
These districtwide learning communities encouraged honest, open discussions among preschool teachers about their work, revealing their vulnerabilities and prompting questions and reflection. The directors and strategists participated in the groups too, demonstrating a shared commitment to growth and fostering trust. As a result, teachers felt supported in taking risks and refining practice.
For example, teachers had created rich, inquiry-based experiences in which children encountered concepts such as gliding and spinning leaves and pumpkin textures, like ribs and prickly stems. Through reflection and
52 Educating Young Children
Fall 2026