This study reports on the implementation ofmother tongue education in linguistically diverse contexts(LDC), or locations where a number of mother tongues(MT) are spoken. In 2012, the Government of the Philip-pines implemented a Mother Tongue-based MultilingualEducation program for the first 4 years of schooling (K-3).The Philippine Department of Education proposed twoprogram models to assist schools to cater for linguisticdiversity: a ‘multiple monolingual’ model, which groupsstudents with the same MT in separate monolingual clas-ses, and a ‘lingua franca’ model, which adopts a widelyused language as medium of instruction in all classes.Three years into the program, a nationwide surveyincluding 50 schools in LDC was conducted to identifychallenges that teachers faced and strategies in programimplementation. Responses to the survey described modi-fications of the Department-proposed models, illustratinghow educators embraced the multi-layered character oflinguistic diversity through context-driven programstrategies. Results also identified program areas for whichschools need additional support, such as the organizationand teaching of classes in which a range of MTs is spoken.The adopted strategies demonstrate a localized realizationof a national policy and provide policy-makers andimplementers with a range of classroom realities and pos-sible options for improving educational outcomes for stu-dents in complex and dynamic multilingual settings

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• The Challenge of Implementing Mother Tongue Educationin Linguistically Diverse Contexts: The Case of the Philippin