Urban regional divides in Taiwanese teachers’ interpretation and implementation of Bilingual 2030 policy

This paper examines how teachers from urban and regional areas differ in their interpretation and implementation of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 policy. We collected and analysed interview data from 15 teachers to identify the reasons behind this divergence between urban and regional educators. The findings indicate that teachers in regional schools feel compelled to adopt a monolingual English-language approach to boost school enrolment when implementing the bilingual education policy. In contrast, teachers in urban schools are more willing to adopt a multilingual approach to maintain academic quality. Additionally, the study finds that teachers in regional schools have fewer opportunities for peer-to-peer and dialogical professional development, undermining their ability to effectively implement bilingual education. Consequently, professional development that is ongoing, collegial, peer-to-peer, district-based, and research-informed is essential to support localised policy implementation across different contexts, thereby sustaining the policy’s effectiveness.