EKIS3780 Teaching English for Social Justice (5 op)

CONTENT

This course provides an accessible introduction to key concepts of education that is grounded in social justice objectives, i.e. education that aims to contribute to social equity and challenge oppression (especially but not limited to ableism, sexism, racism, and classism) in and beyond the classroom. Building on these foundational understandings, it offers insights into and practical advice for social-justice driven English teaching.

COMPLETION METHODS

Self study, book exam

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Book exam (essay questions)

• Students will be familiar with the tenets, goals, and main concepts of social justice approaches to teaching and education.
• Students will be able to identify and describe common processes of oppression, especially those linked to dis/ability, gender, race, and class.
• Students will know some key strategies of instructional design and implementation for teaching English for social justice.
• Students will be able to make connections between the identities and strategies presented in the literature and their own (future) teaching and teacher identities.

For this course, you will read two books. I recommend starting with Is everyone really equal? and following it up with Social justice literacies in the English classroom. Please note that all these resources stem from a US context (equivalents simply do not exist in Finland yet), but with an open mind and some cultural translation work, you will notice that they are highly relevant for the Finnish educational context as well.

Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. Teachers College Press: New York.

Boyd, A. S. (2017). Social justice literacies in the English classroom: Teaching practice in action. Teachers College Press: New York.