EAL Teacher Leaders’ Knowledge, Voice, and Leadership Identity in Irish Schools

Examining the leadership identities of English as an additional language (EAL) teacher leaders is essential in light of Ireland’s linguistic diversity. Ireland is home to over 200 languages ( CSO 2023 ), and there is an unprecedented emphasis on affirming linguistic and cultural diversity within Irish schools ( NCCA 2019 , 2024 ). This article discusses findings from case study research on evolving EAL teacher leadership in developing language teacher knowledge, confidence, and voice for schoolwide approaches to plurilingual education. This is set within the context of a professional learning community and evolving community of practice ( Wenger 1998 , Wenger-Traynor & Wenger-Traynor, 2015 ), which was developed for EAL teacher leaders in 2019, between an Irish Initial Teacher Education Institution and a network of 10 schools in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage. Data from semi-structured interviews from two phases of a longitudinal, mixed-methods study (2019–2024) involved primary principals, primary EAL teacher leaders, and post-primary EAL teacher leaders from 10 urban schools. Four themes emerged from the data: EAL teacher leaders’ perceived knowledge development, pedagogical leadership for EAL, multifaceted leadership identity and voice, and nurturing social capital and collaboration.