Teaching Against Erasure: Transformative SEL, Language Justice, and Belonging for Multilingual Learners in Hawaiʻi

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines how a third-grade teacher in Hawaiʻi implemented Transformative Social-Emotional Learning (tSEL) to support multilingual learners (MLs) in a Title I classroom. Grounded in a framework that centers agency, identity, belonging, and language justice, the study responds to Hawaiʻi’s history of English-only education policies that continue to marginalize students’ home languages and cultural identities. Over 15 weeks, three gratitude lessons were adapted using tSEL principles, emphasizing cultural inclusion, translanguaging, and critical reflection, while one lesson followed a standard SEL curriculum. Data sources included lesson plans, classroom observations, student artifacts, and reflective journals analyzed using Saldaña’s coding methods. Findings show that tSEL fostered student voice, agency, and cultural pride, particularly when students used their home languages and cultural knowledge in the classroom. The study affirms the need for SEL frameworks that disrupt language oppression and promote equity, offering recommendations for policy and practice to support linguistically diverse learners.