The Multiliterate Mind

Proficiency, Productive Struggle & Expanding the Horizon with Dr. Brandee Mau

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Multiliterate Mind, hosts Marnina Falk Colman and Dr. Liza Trejo welcome Dr. Brandee Mau, VP of Learning Services at Avant, for a powerful conversation about language proficiency, productive struggle, student agency, multilingualism, assessment, and AI in education.

Episode Notes

Brandee shares nearly 30 years of experience in language education, including work in dual language immersion, German instruction, curriculum development, assessment, professional learning, and proficiency-based teaching.

Together, they explore why proficiency can serve as a unifying goal across different language programs and why the intermediate stage of language learning deserves more intentional support.

The conversation also dives into:

• Productive struggle in language learning
• Why teachers should not do all the work
• Student curiosity and agency
• Novice, intermediate, and advanced proficiency
• Brandee’s Heart, Hoop & Horizon framework
• The cotton candy metaphor for understanding proficiency
• AI and the importance of a critical human lens
• Why mistakes should be celebrated as part of learning
• How teachers can take small steps toward more student-centered instruction

This episode is especially valuable for world language teachers, multilingual learner educators, dual language immersion teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and anyone interested in proficiency-based learning.