This paper is part of a larger study at the intersection of social justice, culturally-responsive pedagogies, and teacher research engagement for professional development. The main aim is to raise learners', student-teachers', and teachers' social responsibility through a collaborative action research study grounded in culturally-responsive, socially just English language education and materials.
Previous studies have found that L2 English language teachers may struggle with imbuing a social responsibility perspective in their practice due to the lack of support with social justice approaches (Barahona & Ibaceta, 2022) and the perpetuation of unequal and stereotypical representations of races, genders, class, and social practices in global coursbooks (Gray, 2013). Contextualised in L2 English language teaching (ELT), this paper seeks to answer two research questions: (1) In what ways can secondary school learners improve their social responsibility and academic performance in English as a foreign language lessons when learning is supported with culturally-responsive, social justice-oriented materials?, and (2) How can student-teachers' and teachers' engagement in materials development and research support their social justice-orientated professional development?
Lamb et al. (2019) suggest that a language pedagogy for social justice and responsibility can be based on learners and be best channelled through collaborative action research as this form of inquiry shares the same goals sought through social justice. The engagement of learners, teachers, and student-teachers in materials development can recognise local knowledge and experience, and help learners and educators see themselves as active agents of change and knowledge co-creators of culturally-responsive pedagogies for social responsibility in L2 education (Bouckaert, 2019). In line with acknowledging the central role that communities and participants, particularly students, play in collaborative projects, materials development can embody collective work, recognition of local knowledge, and direct benefits for the community to increase educational equality, agency and participation.
In this paper we report findings based on an action research cycle carried out with a group of English language teacher educators, student-teachers, secondary school teachers, and secondary school students in state schools in one Argentinian province. In this cycle, the teenage students selected topics within the remit of social justice and inclusion and created input materials which their teachers and student-teachers used to design and deliver English language learning lessons with a focus on social responsibility. Data were collected through interviews, focus groups, arts-based instruments, and journals. Implications for research and pedagogy will be discussed.
References
Barahona, M., & Ibaceta-Quijanes, X. (2022). Chilean EFL student teachers and social justice: ambiguity and uncertainties in understanding their professional pedagogical responsibility. Teachers and Teaching, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2022.2062726
Bouckaert, M. (2019). Current perspectives on teachers as materials developers: Why, what, and how? RELC Journal, 50(3), 439–456.
Gray, J. (Ed.). (2013). Critical perspectives on language teaching materials. Palgrave.
Lamb, T., Hatoss, A., & O'Neill, S. (2019). Challenging social injustice in superdiverse contexts through activist languages education. In R. Papa (Ed.), Handbook on promoting social justice in education (pp. 1-38). Palgrave.
