Social Justice

This course is about language and social justice or more precisely about relationships between the way the language is used and the challenge of providing equal opportunities in the society regardless of one’s gender, ethnic identity, wealth, educational background, or other identifiers. There are two main purposes in offering this course: One is to show the significance of language in how social structures in a society are produced, maintained, and reinforced, demonstrating why we must avoid narrow definitions of language which underestimate its power and why it is essential to see language as social practice. The second purpose is to display how such a critical awareness of the role language plays helps us understand issues of social concern and how English language classrooms can serve as a platform to engage learners in activities that would integrate social justice issues and language learning.

Our training program consists of two components: Theoretical and Applied. In the theoretical component, a rather different and complex understanding of how language enables people to live together is introduced to be fully aware of the range of functions it fulfils in our lives. In fact, throughout the programme, participants will be encouraged for a conscious engagement with language so that we would better understand power relations in a society. In addition, some basic concepts related to social justice issues will be explored. In the second component, the focus will be more on how teachers can work with learners to foster a learning environment in which real-life issues are discussed and learners are critically engaged in conversations. The participants will be engaged in a number of activities ranging from problem-posing to text analyses.

Module 1

Theoretical component

Introduction

·  How do we define language?

·  How do English language teachers perceive language and its function in society?

·  Language as social practice

Critical Language Awareness

·  CLA, Education and Social Justice

·  Critical literacy and social justice

·  Banking model of education as opposed to critical consumers of information

·  Ways of knowledge construction 

·  Interacting with the texts related to social justice issues such as racism, gender, social inclusion etc.

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Module 2

Applied component

·  How to integrate social justice issues in language classroom

·  Creating classroom community

·  Focus on real world problems

·  Working on skills required such as differentiating between fact and opinion to determine what is true, examining diverse points of view, and developing a personal perspective 

• Tolerance in the classroom
• Diversity

·  Activities to explore issues through the lens of social justice

The schedule given below is subject to change depending on participants’ needs and interests.

Day 1

Course introduction

Needs analysis

Getting ready (Verbal-non-verbal warming up activities)

Introduction to language and social justice

Welcome Dinner

Day 2

Theoretical framework, concepts, and language

Language as social practice

Introduction to social justice

Day 3

Critical language awareness

Critical pedagogy

Cultural activities

Day 4

Issues in social justice

Racism, Sexism, Inclusion/Exclusion, Immigration, Homophobia

Guided City Tour (Optional)

Day 5

Social justice activities to try in the class

·  Problem-posing

·  Text analysis

·  Critical look at classroom materials

·  Gender and racial stereotypes by talking about different careers 

·  Discussion on a current policy or law 

Day 6

Social justice activities to try in the class

·  Face-to-face –to respect and celebrate human differences

·  Draw a picture – gender stereotyping in the workplace

·  Advertisements

·  Body image 

·  Works of art

Dinner at a traditional  restaurant

Day 7

·  Concluding Remarks: Being agents of change

·  Feedback & Certificate Ceremony