In episode 82, Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews LJ Randolph about what it means to teach languages for social justice and how teachers can think about representation in their classrooms. LJ shares resources, big ideas, and practical examples for teachers who want to explore what social justice might look like in a language classroom.
Or listen on iTunes/the Apple podcast app, on the Google Podcast app, or on Stitcher!
_________
Show Notes
We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or use this contact form to send us an email.
Dr. L. J. Randolph Jr. is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Education, and Coordinator of French/Spanish Teacher Licensure at the University of North Carolina Wilmingtonon. You can find LJ on Twitter @ProfeRandolph or by email. LJ has published articles on social justice in the language classroom including this one in The Language Educator and this open-access article in Dimension. (Also check out the entire 2018 edition of Dimension on social justice).
Dorie Conlon Perugini is an elementary Spanish teacher at Glastonbury Public Schools and a Doctoral Student at the University of Connecticut. You can find her on Twitter @doriecp or on her blog or her facebook group centered on intercultural competence.
Some resources related to this episode…
…Words & Actions: Teaching Languages through the Lens of Social Justice
…Terry Osborn’s book Social Justice in the Language Classroom
…LJ has published articles on social justice in the language classroom including this one in The Language Educator and this open-access article in Dimension.
If you enjoyed this episode, you should check out our other episodes on social justice issues…
…Episode 12: Teaching Racial Diversity and Growing as a Teacher with Laurel Abreu
…Episode 42: Choosing Critical Cultural Content over Grammar with Daniel Woolsey
…Episode 43: Common Misconceptions in English Language Teaching with Ryuko Kubota
…Episode 44: A Preview of the 2018 Dimension Special Issue with Terry A. Osborn LJ mentioned Terry Osborn’s book Social Justice in the Language Classroom as a useful resource, and Dorie actually had Professor Osborn as her faculty adviser in college!
…Episode 45: Thematic Units and Social Justice with Anneke Oppewal and Jennifer Wooten
And definitely check out Dorie’s previous episodes on the podcast…
… Episode 61: A Throwback Episode with Dorie Conlon Perugini and Manuela Wagner
…Episode 73: Intercultural Communicative Competence with Michael Byram
This podcast has some great examples of how to incorporate social justice themes into your classroom conversations at any level of language study. LJ talks about different ways to challenge traditional representations–through authentic language, texts from underrepresented voices, images in public spaces, and more. LJ’s point that it is important to build trust between students by incorporating some low stake community building activities is essential to creating an open atmosphere in which students are ready to engage in critical self-reflective activities. The suggestion to change a traditional role play prompt to practice the past tense to include experiences that shape how you view the world today shows that there are small steps possible in how to include social justice conversations. If you are interested in learning more about how to integrate social justice in your language teaching, I highly recommend the ACTFL Critical and Social Justice Approaches special interest group: https://www.actfl.org/membership/special-interest-groups-sigs