Page 27 - ELG1709 Agu-Sep Issue 450

RESOURCES .

BECKER1999 (PAUL AND CATHY)

Taking to the streets
‘Teaching

is always political’

Teachers are ‘more than classroom managers transmitting McDonaldised
content’ and should consider introducing social justice issues, says writer
and academic J. J. Wilson

nglish language teaching is sometimes easily digested junk). It seems a moment ripe for the methods
regarded as a neutral, value-free And so … to social justice. of Paulo Freire: dialogue, problematising and
endeavour. We teach the medium, praxis (the turning of theory into practice)
Enot the message. After all, what as vehicles for grappling with social justice
values are contained in the present perfect? A social justice issues. But we need to remember there is
The act of declining verbs isn’t going to solve approach may be no blueprint. No one-size-fits-all method or
the world’s problems. And teacher training technique will work because our approach
rarely touches on the wider role of the off-putting to some will depend on the people in the room –
teacher in education. their personal history, their cultural capital,
But there’s another school of thought students. Many attend their funds of knowledge.
that says teaching is always political. We are then faced with a quandary.
Teachers and students bring values, beliefs English classes as a We need to ‘cover’ certain topics on the
and approaches to the material and to one curriculum, so how can we subvert the
another. Everything the teacher does in refuge from the real syllabus? One way is to take the unit topic
class reflects her beliefs about education, world of trouble and and regard it critically, to problematise it.
about people and about the world. It’s like Let’s examine a common unit topic:
the axiom from communication theory: one strife food. We may begin by finding – or getting
cannot not communicate. The same applies students to find – facts about food. Who
in the language classroom: educators cannot exports it to whom? How many tons are
help revealing deeply held beliefs. Those of us energised by the global malaise thrown away daily? Why would so many
The latter is a view that rejects the – wars, repressive governments, ecological ‘food products’ be unrecognisable to our
reduction of teachers to technicians. We are catastrophe, terrorism – see opportunities great-grandparents? Or we may do a
more than classroom managers transmitting to engage our students in real conversations 90-degree turn with the topic and ask about
McDonaldised content (mini-chunks of about real issues. hunger instead. Who goes hungry and why?
26 August/September 2017

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