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Margaret Burns

Associate Professor

Margaret Burns smiling

Meg is a faculty member in the graduate TESOL and Bilingual Education programs at Lesley. Her teaching and research focus on equipping teachers to create equitable learning environments for multilingual students, particularly in early childhood and elementary settings. Her research examines various aspects of Dual Language schools, including the roles of race and culture in Dual Language programs, the use of multilingual texts, and specific strategies to support Spanish-English biliteracy development.

In her teaching, Meg emphasizes the importance of multilingual, interactive approaches to literacy teaching in both English-medium classrooms and bilingual classrooms. Meg teaches courses in first and second language acquisition, early language and literacy development, sheltered English instruction, culturally responsive pedagogy, family and community engagement, and qualitative research methods.

Meg is a past president and board member of the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast (MABE) and serves on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's English Learner and Bilingual Advisory Council.

Education

PhD in Bilingual Multicultural Education, University of Colorado, Boulder
MA in Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Boston
BA, Vassar College

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • Solano-Campos, A. & Burns, M. (2022). Spaces of dissonance in dual language: Teacher sense-making of a new biliteracy strategy. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2022.2088227
  • Enriquez, G. & Burns, M. (2022, January 25). Libros for language: Texts to support translanguaging in the classroom. Association for Library Service to Children Blog.
  • Solano-Campos, A. & Burns, M. (2021, April). Examining the effectiveness of biliterate reading/writing strategies in a Two-Way bilingual program. [Invited Poster Session]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Virtual.
  • Hardy, P., Burns, M., & Cazabon, M. (2019, Oct. 4). Implementing Dual Language Education: A Moral Imperative for English Learners [Workshop]. In Pursuit of Equity, Accountability and Success: Latinx Students in Massachusetts Schools Conference, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA.
  • Burns, M. (2018, October 22) Getting involved in bilingual education policy. Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools, Roche Center for Catholic Education, Boston College Lynch School of Education.
  • Burns, M. (2017) “Compromises that we make:” Whiteness in the dual language context. Bilingual Research Journal, 40(4).

Awards

First place winner, Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group, 2017