In multilingual and bilingual educational settings, teachers hold a pivotal position in advocacy for literacy rights, which are essential for providing equal educational opportunities across diverse student populations. Despite this critical role, multiple barriers hinder their efficacy, including limited access to specialized training, insufficient resources, and a paucity of supportive policy frameworks tailored for effective literacy education. The overarching challenges of achieving universally accessible literacy in such complex environments underscore the need for a robust intervention strategy to enable educational equity.

Literacy must expand beyond traditional print texts to include multimodal forms—linguistic, visual, spatial, gestural, and technological—central to the practices of multilingual learners. Known as multiliteracies, this approach is crucial as literacy in multilingual contexts intersects with diverse cultural, linguistic, and technological factors. Meanwhile, the "Science of Reading" (SoR), which emphasizes phonics, increasingly influences global literacy policies but often overlooks the complexities of multilingual learners. Given these ongoing debates and tensions, our topic seeks to explore advocacy strategies that embrace both the inclusivity of multiliteracies and the equity of multilingual learners' rights, ensuring that teachers’ roles in policy advocacy are informed by these critical perspectives.

This research endeavor seeks to explore the significant role of educators as proactive advocates for literacy rights within these challenging contexts. The objective is to evaluate and enhance current methods employed to empower teachers, experiment with novel hypotheses regarding the impact of such advocacy on literacy policies and derive evidence-based recommendations that foster effective advocacy practices. Through empirical analysis and innovative approaches, this study aims to contribute substantive insights into how teacher advocacy can transform literacy education, ensuring it meets the needs of all learners, regardless of language and cultural differences.

To explore the extensive influence of teacher-led advocacy on literacy rights within bilingual and multilingual educational frameworks, our project delineates a thorough inquiry into various facets related to this theme. To gather further insights into this complex interplay, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Teacher Bilingual and Multilingual Competence in Literacy Advocacy
• The Role of Teacher Voices in Shaping Literacy Policies
• The Impact of Teacher-Led Policy Advocacy on Student Literacy Outcomes
• Language Identity and Its Influence on Teachers' Perspectives on Literacy Policies
• Teacher Training and Professional Development for Literacy Advocacy in Multilingual Settings
• Comparative Perspectives on Teacher-Led Literacy Policies and Initiatives
• Teacher Participation in Literacy Policy Reform
• Advocating for Literacy Rights for Students with Disabilities

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Frontiers in Education

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