Sustaining a translanguaging community of practice: a narrative inquiry by teacher educators

As linguistic and cultural diversity increases globally, teachers need to develop translanguaging pedagogies that leverage students’ full linguistic repertoires. Enacting such pedagogies can be challenging due to policy, ideology, and knowledge constraints. This study explores the processes and factors that allow Translanguaging Communities of Practice (TCoPs) to form and evolve equitably. Through narrative inquiry, the authors examine critical incidents that enabled them to create and sustain their TCoP. Findings reveal key elements: an initiating leader, accepting invitations for legitimate peripheral participation, attending to affective dimensions, valuing reciprocity, enabling identity transformations, making impact, and extending invitations.The authors argue that such communities empower scholars to broaden pedagogical practices in linguistically diverse contexts. The study highlights TCoPs’ potential in meeting the challenge of enacting translanguaging design and fostering inclusive approaches to language teaching and learning. Despite constraints, collaboration within a TCoP allowed members to develop pedagogies that leverage students’ full linguistic repertoires.