# Research Maya Alkateb-Chami is a Doctoral Candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a secondary field in Philosophy, and an Instructor in Education at Harvard University and Boston College. Her research examines how literacy can be more meaningfully and equitably realized. It is guided by a concern for equality of opportunity for political and cultural participation, particularly in multilingual and culturally diverse societies, and in light of the growing role of media and technology in our lives. She pursues this work through three interconnected dimensions of inquiry: normative, structural, and instructional. ***Areas of expertise:*** Philosophy of education; language-in-education policy; bilingual and multilingual education; literacy theory, development, and instruction; critical literacy education; comparative education. ![Portrait of Maya Alkateb-Chami](/sites/g/files/omnuum12076/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2026-06/Portrait_Maya%20Alkateb-Chami.png?itok=qG_WyRvn) ## **Literacy, Justice, and the Right to Literacy** My normative research asks two related central questions: What is literacy? and what literacy are children and young people owed today? This work develops philosophical accounts of literacy, basic literacy, and the right to literacy. It advances a theory of literacy as an interpretive capacity and resource, reconceptualizes basic literacy in light of contemporary educational and societal needs, and brings cognitive psychology, critical literacy education, and bi/multilingual education into dialogue. This research forms the basis of my book project, *Literacy and the Right to an Open Future*, and has implications for curriculum, literacy instruction, and educational policy. ## **Language-of-Instruction and Educational Opportunity** A second strand of my research examines how language-of-instruction policies and practices influence literacy development and educational opportunity. My work spans comparative policy research and site-based studies of bilingual education. In a study of 56 countries published in the *International Journal of Educational Development*, I introduced the concept of [linguistic discordance](/linguistic-discordance "Linguistic Discordance") to describe the mismatch between students' home language and the language-of-instruction. More recently, my work has focused on schools as language managers, examining how school leaders, language ideologies, and institutional practices influence bilingual and mother tongue-based multilingual education. ## **Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Teacher Decision-Making** A third strand explores how philosophical and policy insights from the previous areas can inform classroom practice. My research examines pedagogic translanguaging, literacy instruction, and curriculum design, arguing that effective pedagogies must be evaluated in relation to context. It emphasizes the importance of supporting students' language, literacy, and background knowledge development across the curriculum, while providing teachers with conceptual and empirical resources for curriculum design and informed instructional decision-making. ## **Approach** Across these areas, I combine analytic philosophy with qualitative and mixed-methods inquiry, producing philosophically informed empirical research and empirically engaged philosophical scholarship. My work pays particular attention to concepts and their implications for research design and the generalizability of research findings. Before beginning doctoral studies, I spent over a decade leading organizations in refugee education, human rights, and community arts. These experiences continue to shape my scholarship on language, literacy, and educational justice. Having grown up and worked in Syria before moving to the United States as a refugee and Fulbright Scholar, I also maintain ongoing research interests in refugee education, Arabic-English bilingual education, and literacy development in Arabic. ## Selected Publications Download 5 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=show_more&number_of_items=5&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&&content_filter%5B0%5D=91&content_filter%5B1%5D=121&content_filter%5B2%5D=126&content_filter%5B3%5D=116&content_filter%5B4%5D=81&&format=ris) [### Learning Poverty when schools do not teach in children’s home language: A comparative perspective ](/publication/learning-poverty-when-schools-do-not-teach-childrens-home-language-comparative-0)Journal Article Maya Alkateb-Chami [### Evaluating Pedagogic Translanguaging: Priorities in Foregrounding Context ](/publication/evaluating-pedagogic-translanguaging-priorities-foregrounding-context)Journal Article Maya Alkateb-Chami [### العربيةُ لغةً للتدريس: مقاربة تحليلية في ضوء الدراسات العالمية \[Arabic as language of instruction: An analytic examination in light of global literature\] ](/publication/arabic-as-language-of-instruction)Journal Article Maya Alkateb-Chami [### Edward Said and education ](/publication/edward-said-and-education)Book Chapter Maya Alkateb-Chami, B. Geier [### Theorizing resistance in education research: An introduction to the reprint of Giroux’s “Theories of reproduction and resistance in the new sociology of education” ](/publication/theorizing-resistance-education-research-introduction-reprint-girouxs-theories)Journal Article Maya Alkateb-Chami [ View All Publications arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications)