Bridging Multilingual Policy and Classroom Practice: The Impact of Teacher Professional Development in Lebanese Public Schools

Abstract

Multilingual education has long been regarded as an advantage for schools in Lebanon because of the country's history of multilingualism (Arabic, French, and English). Nonetheless, in spite of the policy towards multilingualism, the gap between policy and pedagogy persists, particularly for schools within the context of Lebanon's economic division of schools with different levels of resources and high diversities of students. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test–post-test and intervention (n=34) and control (n=34) teacher groups and 312 student participants (intervention group and 156 in the control group) to explore how teachers cope with linguistic diversity when they face structural challenges without institutional support. The study explored the effects of a six-week structured instructional coaching program (Multilingual Teaching Professional Development [MTPD] program) focusing on translanguaging, differentiating instruction, and scaffolding techniques. The results showed significant large improvements in teachers' self-efficacy in relation to instruction (d=1.02), differentiating instruction (d=1.15), translanguaging practices (d=1.28), and scaffolding techniques (d=1.19). In classes of intervention group teachers, significant progress has been made. The typology is developed based on the output of three domains: teacher instructional behavior, student classroom experience, and classroom ecology, integrating evidence from quantitative and qualitative findings. Together, the findings demonstrate that sustained, practice-based professional development can strengthen multilingual teaching practices, improve students' classroom experiences, and help narrow the gap between multilingual education policy and classroom practice in Lebanese public schools.