Brain-Based Learning in a Multilingual Community

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a cohort-style professional learning opportunity occurring between October 2025 and January 2026. Participants are expected to attend both sessions.

Dates: October 25, 2025 and January 10, 2026
In-person Location: International School of Portland campus, Portland Oregon
Presenters: Ana Lia Oliva, Ed.D. CCC-SLP and Christopher Merideth, Ed.D. from the Neuro-Learning and Language Network
Audience: PreK through 12th grade educators and educational leaders

Research demonstrates that children who learn more than one language experience numerous
life-long cognitive, social, and linguistic benefits. However, knowledge about how
multilingualism can positively impact the developing brain can often be missing from classrooms
and school systems. As a result, many educators remain unaware of how to harness these
existing multilingual strengths within their students, resulting in lost opportunities to leverage
children’s unique brains, talents, and life perspectives.

In this multi-part professional learning opportunity, two educational researchers will explore the
advantages of fostering a multilingual learning community within all classrooms through the
lenses of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and language. Sessions will include an
introduction to brain-based learning theory, multiple demonstrations of visual language learning
strategies, and opportunities for participants to give thought to how they might promote learning
in their own educational settings. Session attendees will be introduced to contemporary ways to
enrich all students’ learning experiences in order to empower children to become lifelong
cultural and linguistic ambassadors among their communities.