In this timely volume, international scholars examine how multilingual schooling is handled in schools across the world with a series of case studies from South Africa, Nigeria, Germany, Colombia, Slovakia, New Zealand, and Taiwan. Presenting new contributions arising from the varied contexts of multilingualism today, this collection urges educators to employ broader definitions of multilingualism; to treat the intricate messiness of language modes and language community goals as factors that mediate instructional and organizational designs, practices and policies; to question the hopes or disappointments of democracy as individuals now know it; and to consider the connections or disconnections of teaching with the cultures represented in the classroom. Demonstrating the commonalities among exemplars of practice, this book will help U.S. educators construct more effective policies and programs for multilingual instruction in K-12 schools. This book begins with "Multilingualism for Understanding," an introduction by Maria E. Torres-Guzman and Joel Gomez. Included in this book are: (1) Enabling Biliteracy Among Young Children in Southern Africa: Realities, Visions, and Strategies (Carole Bloch); (2) Multilingualism in South African Schools: Where to Now? (Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty); (3) African Cityscapes and Schools: Imagining Multilingual Education (Tope Omoniyi); (4) Toward Bilingualism in Multiethnic Slovakia: The Formal Education of Ethnic Hungarians (Ildiko Vanco); (5) Multilingual Primary Schools in Germany: Models and Research (Ursula Neumann and Hans-Joachim Roth); (6) Multilingual Education in Germany: Discourses, Practices, and Experiences in Two-Way Immersion (Gabriele Budach); (7) Multilingualism in Action: Language Education Policy in the Rapidly Changing Society of Taiwan (Chen-ching Li); (8) Effective Transformation or Illusion? Teacher Empowerment Through the Construction of Bilingual Education Programs in Colombia (Anne-Marie de Mejia, Harvey Tejada, and Sol Colmenares); and (9) Multiculturalism and Language Education in New Zealand: Past, Present, and Future (Roger Barnard). "iZemia's Unity in Linguistic Diversity," an afterword by Maria E. Torres-Guzman and Joel Gomez, is included.