Ohio TESOL is excited to welcome Dr. Megan Hopkins as our 2026 keynote speaker!
A former bilingual teacher, researcher, and education leader, Dr. Hopkins has spent more than two decades working to improve opportunities for multilingual learners. Her work asks an important question: How can we build systems where supporting multilingual learners is truly a shared responsibility?
About Dr. Megan Hopkins
Dr. Megan Hopkins is Professor and Chair of the Department of Education Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on education policy, leadership, and systems change for multilingual learners.
For more than two decades, she has partnered with educators and policymakers at the school, district, and state levels. Her work explores how schools can break down silos and build shared responsibility for multilingual learners.
She is also the author of the new book, Courageous Leadership for Multilingual Learners (Harvard Education Press, 2026), which brings together lessons from her years of research and partnership with education leaders.
Keynote
From Silos to Shared Responsibility: Courageous Leadership for Multilingual Learners
What happens when multilingual learners are viewed as the responsibility of a program or department rather than the responsibility of an entire school community?
In her keynote, Dr. Hopkins will explore what courageous leadership can look like when we challenge that way of thinking.
She will share stories from classrooms, schools, districts, and state education agencies. These stories highlight both the challenges educators face and what becomes possible when we begin to work differently.
Together, we will consider how we can break down silos, build on students’ linguistic and cultural strengths, and create a stronger sense of shared responsibility.
Dr. Hopkins will also invite each of us to think about our own role. What does courageous leadership look like where we work? And what small actions can help create lasting change?
Featured Workshop
From Courage to Action: Building Shared Responsibility for Multilingual Learners
The conversation will continue with an interactive workshop led by Dr. Hopkins.
Participants will take a closer look at their own schools, programs, and systems. They will explore the structures, expectations, and mindsets that can either support collaboration or keep multilingual learner education isolated.
Most importantly, participants will have time to apply these ideas to a real challenge from their own setting.
You’ll leave with a practical framework, new ideas, and a concrete next step you can take back to your school or organization.
Join Us at the 2026 Ohio TESOL Conference
Dr. Hopkins’s message is a wonderful fit for this year’s theme, Rooted in Purpose: Cultivating Systems of Support.
Strong systems aren’t built by one person. They grow when educators work together, share responsibility, and recognize the strengths multilingual learners bring to our schools.
We can’t wait to welcome Dr. Hopkins—and all of you—to the 2026 Ohio TESOL Conference!
October 8–9, 2026
The Ohioan | Lewis Center, Ohio
Rooted in Purpose: Cultivating Systems of Support