Teachers’ Perspectives on Educating Bilingual Primary School Students: A Phenomenological Study

Authors

1 Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

2 Student of Elementary Education, Farhangian University, Pardis Imam Khomeini (RA), Gorgan Branch, Golestan, Iran

10.48310/istt.2026.21004.1183

Abstract

Background and Objectives:
In multilingual contexts, the mismatch between students’ mother tongue and the official language of instruction can lead to the formation of educational inequalities from the very first years of schooling. In this regard, teachers’ experiences and interpretations of this situation play a determining role in the quality of teaching–learning processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of elementary school teachers in teaching bilingual students.
Methods:
The present study was conducted with a qualitative approach and using the interpretive phenomenological method. The participants included 12 elementary school teachers in Golestan Province with at least three years of teaching experience in linguistically diverse regions, who were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings:
The interviews were coded verbatim, and the main and sub-themes were extracted. Ultimately, data analysis led to the extraction of a network of 7 main themes and 24 sub-themes. The main themes included: linguistic lived experience between two worlds, the hidden capitals of bilingualism, multiplicity as a tool for communicative empowerment, flexible pedagogy in a bilingual context, educational ties within the social network of learning, education at the boundary of inequality, and reconstruction of the learning community within a multicultural context.
Conclusion:
Finally, based on the obtained results and findings, guidelines for effective education of bilingual students were presented.

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History

  • Receive Date: 25 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 15 January 2026
  • Accept Date: 27 January 2026
  • First Publish Date: 27 January 2026
  • Publish Date: 22 November 2025

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