Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of Educational Leadership and Policy
First Advisor
Karen Haley
Term of Graduation
Summer 2025
Date of Publication
7-25-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership: Postsecondary Education
Department
Educational Leadership and Policy
Language
English
Subjects
Critical Qualitative Research, Culturally Sustaining Professional Development, Early Childhood Workforce Equity, Language Access, Linguistically Diverse Educators, Multilingual Inclusion in Education
Physical Description
1 online resource (v, 188 pages)
Abstract
Linguistically diverse trainers play a critical role in reshaping professional development (PD) within Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), yet their contributions remain marginalized within English-dominant institutional structures. This qualitative study explored how these trainers define and deliver meaningful learning experiences despite systemic barriers, limited resources, and monolingual policies. Grounded in critical constructivism, the research centered the lived experiences and voices of linguistically diverse trainers across multiple contexts. Through semi-structured interviews, participants shared how they co-constructed relational, culturally grounded, and linguistically affirming PD environments rooted in community knowledge and emotional connection. Findings reveal that meaningful learning occurs when training reflects the cultural realities and linguistic preferences of participants--an outcome trainers achieve by designing the trainings they wish they had received. These trainers provide mentorship, foster community, and reclaim linguistic space in systems that often undervalue their labor. Their work exposes the cost of operating within English-centered systems and the resilience required to sustain culturally relevant pedagogies. This research amplifies the voices of marginalized trainers and offers recommendations for policy and institutional transformation, advocating for equity, funding, and the structural redesign of ECCE professional development to support a multilingual, multicultural workforce.
Rights
© 2025 Anna Howell
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44108
Recommended Citation
Howell, Anna, "Fostering Meaningful Learning: Experiences of Linguistically Diverse Trainers in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Professional Development" (2025). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 6925.