The term “breaking borders” used in the conference title refers to the tearing down of traditional, metaphorical, and geo-political boundaries and intimates a break or disruption is essential to begin transforming the current state and possible futures of language and literacy education. This introductory chapter frames Redefining Language and Literacy for Global Inclusion and Educational Transformation as a response to urgent global challenges facing language and literacy education. Drawing on multimodal, semiotic, translinguistic, critical, and post-digital perspectives, the volume challenges autonomous and language-dominant models of literacy. It foregrounds issues of social justice, learner agency, migration, and equity across geopolitical and metaphorical borders. Through analyses of picturebooks, digital tools, multimodal compositions, and pedagogical practices, the collection demonstrates how literacy education is inherently ideological and transformative. Together, the chapters position multimodal literacy as a catalyst for inclusive, socially just, and globally responsive education.