“How are we growing and engaging in society? Who are we allies for? How does that play out in our own lives? How do we bring that to the classroom? How we can create experiences where our students can unpack those elements of their identity and their experiences?”
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Language is identity, as we have been exploring in each and every podcast in the It’s About Language series: identity of the individual, identity of a group, identity of a culture. Since identity is a key issue for all human beings, celebrate the exploration of our identity through language. But what of the identity of others? How does our language separate us from the experience and identity of others? Indeed, can others become invisible to us, as we make assumptions and base norms on our own language and experience, failing to look outside ourselves? This podcast Episode 15 with Dr. L.J. Randolph (read his bio) takes a firm look at the separation and injustice that can result.
“I think social justice pedagogy [in the language classroom] has to do with mattering. Who matters? How do we know that this person matters in the context of what we are teaching?”
When we seek to learn or understand the words and language of another, we may be in a classroom studying about cultures far away. But each day we are also in the classroom of life, each day coming across those whose experiences, words, language, and cultures are different from ours. Are we paying attention? Do we realize their language and experience differs from ours?
“I’m looking at how our communities overlap and how we interpret the same situation, the same experiences differently based on our identities and our own perspectives, even though we are in the same community.“
How does what each of us does in the “classroom of the world” ensure that all in a community and nation–their experiences, words, languages, and racial, national, and ethnic backgrounds–are included, central, honored as normative, each in their own way?
“I’m always thinking about what’s going on in our own neighborhoods, our own communities. What am I thinking about? What are our students thinking about? How can I incorporate that into the classroom in a way that promotes their language proficiency? I’m not saying you abandon the language learning aspect of the class in order to discuss these issues. I think they are inextricably linked.”
Enjoy the podcast, and check out L.J. Randolph’s biography and resources.
Who matters in our society? Who is invisible to you? How might our own language and “culture of experience” lead either to justice and inclusion, or to exclusion and injustice?
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Guest Bio
L. J. Randolph Jr., Ed.D., is an associate professor of Spanish and Education and coordinator of the World Language Teacher Education Program at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. L.J.’s teaching career has spanned nearly 20 years, including a decade as a Spanish and ESOL teacher at the secondary level. At the university level, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Spanish language, contemporary Latinx cultures, and second language teaching methods. He has also directed study abroad programs in China, Mexico, Spain, and the Dominican Republic for secondary, undergraduate, and graduate students.
L.J.’s research, publications, and professional engagement have focused on a variety of critical issues in language education, including the teaching of Spanish to heritage and native speakers and the incorporation of social justice-oriented pedagogies in the language classroom. He has authored/co-authored several publications and given dozens of scholarly presentations on those topics. In addition, throughout his career he has served in leadership roles in various language organizations, including president of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC), president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), coordinator of the Cape Fear Foreign Language Collaborative (CFFLC), board member for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and founding vice-chair of ACTFL’s special interest group for Critical and Social Justice approaches.
Resources
Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/
Spanish for Social Justice: http://www.spanishforsocialjustice.com/
ACTFL-NCSSFL Intercultural Reflection Tool: https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/can-dos/Intercultural%20Can-Dos_Reflections%20Scenarios.pdf
Disrupt Texts: https://disrupttexts.org/
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