Description:

Judy O'Loughlin and Jose Franco offer a webinar on doing action research/reflective practice around Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) and Multilingual Learners (MLL) students. As experts in the working and doing research with SIFEs and MLLs, they share stories and approaches to listening silence in the classroom through action research approaches.
Participants will

understand how to design a focused action research or reflective practice plan to investigate and improve instructional approaches that promote equitable engagement and learning for SIFE and MLL students.
apply student-centered strategies informed by reflective inquiry, including reframing silence as meaningful communication and implementing practices that strengthen belonging and voice.

Presenter Bios

José Franco serves as a middle school teacher for Multilingual Learners (MLLs) in Lexington School District, South Carolina, United States, where he supports linguistically diverse students through inclusive, student-centered instruction. With lived experience in Venezuela and the United States, his research interests have centered on Students with Interpreted Formal Education (SIFEs), equitable learning opportunities and strengthening local community and global connections for students.

Judy O'Loughlin a long standing member of CATESOL and researcher and author around Students with Interpreted Formal Education (SIFEs), she is an active CATESOL, Oregon TESOL and TESOL International member, as well as involved in other association advocating for SIFEs and migrant learners. Her extensive background across the U.S. working with SIFEs, MLLs and beyond over decades has provided her a critical and compassionate lens into meeting their needs in the classroom.