About the Research Symposia
The MLRC Research Symposia are unique two-day workshops for international educators to engage deeply in existing research about multilingual learners, connect with global education scholars, inquire together about shared problems of practice, and discuss innovative strategies for serving multilingual learners. Educators will create an Action Research plan during their time at the symposium. These workshops are followed by continued Action Research support, culminating in a capstone report.
Participation is an exclusive benefit School Network Members. If your school is not currently a member, consider joining! Go to our membership page to learn more about the benefits of joining our school network.
Goal
School-based teams will identify a problem of practice, draw on relevant research to consider strengths and goals for improvement, and design an action research plan.
Objectives
- Connect research on teaching multilingual learners to your classroom and school
- Learn together with other researchers and practitioners to improve outcomes for multilingual learners
- Build capacity for school-based inquiry through action research
Upcoming Research Symposia Dates
*Registration closes at midnight Central Time (GMT -5)
Agenda
Day 1
8:00 – 8:30
Registration & Coffee
8:30 – 9:00
Welcome & Introductions
9:00 – 10:15
Hands On: Demystifying Research
10:15 – 10:45
BREAK
10:45 – 12:00
Sharing Research Insights:
- Translanguaging
- Collaboration
- Inclusive EAL
12:00 – 1:00
LUNCH
1:00 – 2:15
Team Focus: Choosing a Topic & Diving Deeper
2:15 – 2:45
BREAK
2:45 – 4:00
Making Connections: Glocal Scholar Insights
Day 2
8:00 – 8:30
Reconnect & Coffee
8:30 – 9:00
Looking Back & Looking Ahead
9:00 – 10:15
Hands On: Demystifying Research
10:15 – 10:45
BREAK
10:45 – 12:00
Crowdsourcing Innocation: Understanding What Works
12:00 – 1:00
LUNCH
1:00 – 2:15
Team Focus: Making an Action Research Plan
2:15 – 2:45
BREAK
2:45 – 4:00
Putting It All Together & Individual School Consultations
Post-Research Symposia
Action Research Support
Following the Research Symposium, the MLRC provides ongoing support for school-based teams through the end of the school year via:
- Regular email check-ins with individual teams
- Monthly webinars for all participants
- Online tools: developed by MLRC team and co-developed with partner schools
- Synchronous Zoom webinars focus on key topics to support team’s ongoing action research projects, such as addressing common barriers, data collection and data analysis.
- All webinars are recorded to allow for asynchronous engagement if teams are unable to attend the live sessions.
At the end of the school year, teams are invited to share their findings with the larger MLRC School Network at the Capstone. This can be a recorded video presentation, an infographic or a summary paper. The goal is for all teams to share what they learned and how they might refine or sustain this inquiry in the following school year.
Co-Writing & Co-Presenting: Additionally, teams are encouraged to consider writing articles and/or presenting at regional conferences to share findings from their action research as well as lessons learned. Teams will be offered the option to co-write articles and/or co-present at conferences with the MLRC team.
Action Research
Watch the video below to hear examples of teams’ planned action research projects.
Capstone reports are available on the Hub for School Network members.