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Social justice is defined as “a philosophy, an approach, and actions that embody treating all people with fairness, respect, dignity, and generosity” (Nieto & Bode, 2008). Incorporating social justice education (SJE) activities into the EFL/ESL classroom increases students’ interest in real-world issues and helps them understand the authentic linguistic context of what they observe around them (Mitchell & Krause, 2016). Furthermore, SJE activities provide students with the tools to analyze power dynamics in the world and nourish within them the seeds of respect and advocacy (Chan, 2016). By using SJE materials, students are actively engaged in learning, they are intrigued and challenged, and they grapple with understanding complex situations using the English language. This article will illustrate the rationale behind including SJE material into the ESL/EFL classroom as well as give examples of successful SJE lesson plans for various contexts, including those from TESOL conferences.

Rationale

Weaving SJE throughout English language lessons connects students to the real world and opens up a safe space for them to ask questions about something they have read, heard, or observed, but did not fully understand. EFL students often ask questions about content from social media, television, and movies. Unfortunately, much of this content promotes stereotypes, and thus, a negative representation of American culture. Exploring issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality in an EFL environment often becomes an exercise in debunking stereotypes or the incorrect representations of different groups found in media. Moreover, the EFL classroom offers a chance for educators to encourage critical thinking and analysis about the type of information we consume around the world. In an ESL classroom, students bring up observations they have made based on their experiences, such as when riding the bus, waiting in line at a store, or walking down the street. Allowing ESL students the freedom to ask their instructors questions about what they have noticed, but did not quite understand, enables them to not only grasp the English language but also the culture of those around them, including norms and taboos. Regardless of context, with these real-world topics, educators also have a chance to challenge their students to find similarities in how power and privilege are used and abused in a variety of countries.

Some educators view the English language classroom as a place for only learning the semantics of a language. However, language is not something that can be learned in isolation. All functional aspects of language are connected to historical, current, and future language use. Some educators may feel uncomfortable analyzing social issues as they may not automatically have all the answers; for those who see themselves as the authority in the classroom, this uncertainty could make them feel unprepared or feel like they are losing face in front of their students. Others may avoid these topics because, when asking students to consider these complicated issues, educators will also have to consider their own position of power and privilege. For example, the majority of ESL teachers in the USA are white, so some may feel uncomfortable answering questions about race relations with their students because they will need to consider not only racism in the USA but also white privilege and white fragility, which  DiAngelo (2011) defines as “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves [which] include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.” If we are tasking our students with the goal of critical thinking, as educators, we must first hold ourselves to the same standards of addressing complex issues within ourselves, our society, and the larger world. While it is easier for us to try to avoid real-world social issues in the classroom, it is more beneficial for our students if we treat them as complex people in a diverse, complicated world.

The dichotomy of analyzing our privileges in the world as well as the ways in which we are oppressed is complicated, but it is also real life. Take myself as an example, being white, heterosexual, university-educated, and an American citizen grants me numerous benefits while being female and a teacher living in an expensive country presents a range of daily limitations. An awareness of those opposing and contradicting forces can lead to rewarding discussions with students, fostering within them the ability to engage in the same exploratory process for themselves, with the end result being a deeper understanding of their place in the world and hopefully a richer, more empathetic view of others. I have found that seemingly innocuous classroom activities and homework assignments can result in students sharing challenging experiences from their own lives. For instance, when writing a journal entry about advice someone gave them, a student detailed leaving an abusive relationship. Other students have opened up about being kicked out of their homes as teenagers or being afraid to come out about their sexuality to their families during class discussions, office hours, or email exchanges. As these examples show, it is imperative that EFL/ESL educators coherently prepare students to engage in the world around them.

Examples of SJE Lessons

At TESOL Chicago 2018, a Panel Session, co-sponsored by the Social Responsibility and Teacher Education Interest Sections, was entitled . Six educators presented ways in which they incorporate SJE into teacher-training in various contexts, such as undergraduate education students in Wisconsin learning about the benefits of linguistic diversity and ELL rights. In Bangladesh, material-design projects use local contexts to reflect universal human rights issues, such as gender roles, child marriage, and a lack of support for higher education for females. Another educator focused on how teachers’ linguistic ideologies influence how they interact with their students and how they instruct them in EL usage. In Vietnam, an educator analyzed the imbalanced power dynamic created by teachers who call more frequently on higher-level students, which in turn preferences these students for dominant positions within group work. In New York, a university professor trains graduate students to work with and advocate for ELLs through an online course on service-learning and digital literacies. The last presenter discussed approaches to integrating SJE into EFL classrooms in Colombia, with an emphasis on student-led projects connected to their real lives, like LGBTQQA2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Asexual, 2-Spirit) rights and peace talks. These educators demonstrated positive change by including SJE into pre-service teacher-training, professional development for current teachers, and class materials for students.

Challenges discussed were a lack of support by teachers, who preferred to teach to exams and not address social inequalities in the language classroom, and resistance from administrators on including SJE into the EL classroom. These presenters illustrated how, after overcoming these initial misgivings, students responded positively to SJE materials’ inherent message of respecting differences and fostering inclusion inside and outside of the language classroom. Because learning another language can make adolescent and adult-learners feel childlike, incorporating real-world issues, in which learners can bring their own experiences, counters this frustration.

While some of the examples above may be new to faculty at the IEC, there are ways in which instructors incorporate SJE into our curriculum as well. For example, the experimental learning project for Intermediate 3 (CEFR B2) is a , where students create informative videos about chosen social issues, such as texting while driving or the dangers of smoking. Some instructors even encourage their students to explore local social justice topics like homelessness, particularly among youth in Boulder. Another instructor weaves discussions around human rights into his advanced writing course.  Yet another instructor and advisor led a professional development presentation encouraging faculty to consider psycho-social interventions for student success in an effort to reduce gaps in achievement and graduation rates for our ELLs.

Prior to working at the IEC, I have worked for over 12 years with ESL/EFL students from a variety of sociolinguistic backgrounds, and I have found that they respond positively to SJE materials because they are able to identify themselves and the world around them within the language classroom. Raising student awareness about power dynamics within societies, by examining divisions along class, race, religion, political party, gender, sexuality, etc., is an important lens with which ELLs can examine and better understand the world. The following are examples of my successful SJE lesson plans, activities, presentations and publications, of which other educators are welcome to adapt and use with their own students:

• Discussing domestic violence and mental health within a course for Turkmen medical specialists as an English Language Fellow in Ashgabat and Mexican Military cadets at the IEC
• Synthesizing oral and written input on stereotypes in order
• Incorporating a  which examine  in an EFL context and at the IEC
• Using social media and student-generated videos to  in an  in Colombia (versions of this course have been taught in Indonesia, China, Turkmenistan, and at the IEC)
• in and Turkmenistan

At TESOL Atlanta 2019, I will be a member of a panel, “,” which is co-sponsored by the Social Responsibility and Materials Writers Interest Sections. I will be briefly discussing the aforementioned materials while the other panelists explore the English language classroom as a means of addressing reconciliation and peacebuilding, human trafficking and modern slavery, and domestic violence and poverty in a variety of contexts, like Colombia, Senegal, South Korea, Brazil, and the USA. Please join us if you would like to learn more ideas about incorporating these topics into your classroom.

Conclusion

I hope the abovementioned materials inspire other ESL/EFL educators to broach SJE materials with their students. I believe that the role of an educator is to not only impart knowledge to students but also to challenge them to think critically, understand more profoundly, and use this knowledge to shape the world around them and their part in it. Aside from steering students towards a deeper grasp of the English language, we should all encourage our students to become kinder, more empathetic world citizens who see the complexity of situations and people.

References

Chan, E. (2016). Student voices inform practice: Perceptions of linguistic and cultural discrimination. In C. Hastings & L. Jacob (Eds.), Social justice in English language teaching, 133–144. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press.

DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3), 54-70. Retrieved from

Mitchell, J.D., & Krause, T. (2016). Steps toward addressing sexual diversity in the English language classroom. ORTESOL Journal, 33, 41-43.  Retrieved from

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.