ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers important relevant context information in order for the research findings to be understood and potentially be useful in multiple national contexts. As the linguistic and cultural diversity of content classes has increased, researchers have begun to focus more intentionally on the preparation of content teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book discusses insights into how national policy decisions set the context for and influence the work of preparing teachers in Northern Ireland and Finland. It provides examples of research conducted on classroom practices found to be effective with multilingual learners and in the United States and New Zealand. The book focuses on perspectives and attitudes of in-service and preservice teachers in the United States and Finland. Multilingual learners represent the children of indigenous communities whose languages have been marginalized, suppressed, and even erased through colonization and genocide.
