Hello, all. This is Stacey, WTL podcast host and producer. Like so many of you, I mourn the recent murder of George Floyd by the police, and denounce the history of systemic racism and violence against the Black community leading up to this moment in time. Also like many of you, I want to take action in solidarity with and following the lead of Black community members.
You see, in my mind the classroom is a remarkable place in that it is both a microcosm of society that reproduces the conditions around us, yet it also has the potential to change the world since the work we do in our classrooms radiates out into the world. We as a professional community of educators are compelled to take urgent action towards doing the work of honest self-evaluation, of making our classrooms anti-racist spaces, and of disrupting anti-blackness wherever we find it.
As members of that professional community, the volunteers who work on We Teach Languages made a commitment to make great conversations about language teaching freely available to the public. In the coming weeks, we will focus our efforts on interviews that center race, critical pedagogy, and social justice in language teaching. We don’t have all the answers, but we are committed to justice and as such to learning, growing, amplifying the voices of our colleagues in BIPOC communities, making our classrooms revolutionary spaces, and building a better world together.
If you are looking for ways to engage in this work, there may be episodes of this podcast that will give you a place to learn about what other teachers are doing in their classrooms, communities, and in the profession. We recommend the following in particular…
…Episode 136: Speaking Blackness in Brazil, Identity, and Investment with Uju Anya
…Episode 82: Social Justice and Representation with LJ Randolph
…Episode 44: A Preview of the 2018 Dimension Special Issue with Terry A. Osborn
…Episode 45: Thematic Units and Social Justice with Anneke Oppewal and Jennifer Wooten
…Episode 12: Teaching Racial Diversity and Growing as a Teacher with Laurel Abreu
And if you are a We Teach Languages listener, chances are you already know other podcasts that are amplifying critical voices. We recommend…
…Unstandardized English by JPB Gerald brings a critical perspective to English Language Teaching
…What in the World Language Podcast by Jahdai focuses on critical issues and often heritage learners
…episodes from Inspired Proficiency by Ashley Uyaguari such as Season 4 Episode 9 with Jade Collins and Ebony Thornton or Season 3 Episode 7 with Kia London
WTL contributor Dorie Conlon Perugini started this thread of resources on Twitter that has additional resources.
And you might also be interested in this special issue of the journal Dimension which I (Stacey) co-edited, published by SCOLT, that focuses on social justice issues in language education.
If you know of other resources that can help our professional community as we embrace a commitment to justice, we encourage you to share them in the comments below.