Call for Papers: Special Issue From home language to language of schooling: Multilingual students, teachers, and educational change in Estonia and beyond

Estonia continues to address the social, political, and demographic legacies of its Soviet past, most notably the dual school system, which has contributed to broader social segregation. At the same time, this system also reflects a longer historical tradition, predating the Soviet era, of educating students separately according to their native languages. The special issue responds to the language-of-instruction reform currently being implemented in Estonia, as a result of which schools that previously taught in Russian are transitioning to instruction in Estonian. As the reform progresses, the number of students whose home language is not Estonian and who attend school in Estonian is increasing year by year.

We invite scholars from a range of academic disciplines to discuss how the language-of-instruction reform and the growing share of students with diverse linguistic backgrounds are reshaping Estonia's educational landscape, while situating the Estonian case within a broader international context. We welcome original empirical contributions in both Estonian and English that examine language-in-education policy, the language of instruction, students’ multilingualism, the support of home languages and cultures, teacher professional learning, collaborative teaching, the development of language-aware and multilingual pedagogies, and school-level capacity for supporting teachers and multilingual learners during educational change. Contributions drawing on different conceptual and theoretical perspectives are encouraged, for example, those addressing educational access, inclusion, equity, social cohesion, and other key issues facing education systems worldwide.

JEFUL is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the University of Tartu Press. The journal does not charge APCs or submission charges from the authors. Scopus and Web of Science index the journal.

Please submit abstracts for proposed articles in Estonian or English by 15 October 2026 by email to the guest editor team (at kerttu.rozenvalde@ut.ee). The word limit for the abstracts is 500 words excl. references; the abstract should clearly identify the theoretical and methodological approach adopted in the study. Please also include 6-8 keywords. Authors of accepted proposals will be asked to submit their full manuscripts not exceeding 60,000 characters through the journal's online editorial system by 1 June 2027. All submissions will be subject to the journal’s standard peer-review process. The special issue will be published in 2028.

For more information on the JEFUL guidelines, please see: https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Guest Editors of the special issue: Assoc. Prof. Kerttu Rozenvalde, Prof. Birute Klaas-Lang, Assoc. Prof. Kadri Koreinik (all University of Tartu), Prof. Merilyn Meristo, Prof. Kairit Tammets (both Tallinn University)