Conference Agenda

Reflection promotes language teacher praxis (Mills et al., 2020) and beliefs about linguistic diversity (Lucas & Villegas, 2013). Prior research has focused on written reflections, with less research on multimodal reflections. We examine U.S. pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) multimodal language portraits as critical reflection (Kusters & De Meulder, 2019; Lau, 2016) and an “alter(n)ative” mode of inquiry that is both alternative (versus traditional) and “alter-ative” (potentially change-promoting) (Prasad, 2014, p. 54). We also posit that these promote humanizing pedagogy, as PSTs examine their sociocultural identities in relation to their students (Huerta, 2011).

Participants were 16 PSTs in methods courses for an undergraduate second language teaching minor or a Master’s degree in TESOL or elementary education. Their backgrounds ranged from no formal teaching experience to experienced teachers and paraprofessionals, many from transnational and/or racialized backgrounds. Using colors, drawings, and writing, they completed a language portrait to describe what influences their identity. The template depicted an outline of a body with boxes for languages, identities, and race. We analyzed the portraits with deductive codes (Fallas-Escobar et al., 2022; Kusters & DeMeulder, 2019; Prasad, 2014) and inductive codes. Two researchers analyzed each portrait and any discrepancies were resolved during whole-team research meetings.

Emerging findings showed that the PSTs identified themselves mainly through different named languages, which is natural given the instructions to reflect on their language learning. Most PSTs placed their “native” language visually on their hearts, using warm colors like red, and also listed several other languages, often placing them on their brains or feet, to denote thinking or traveling. In contrast, they were much less comfortable describing their racial identities: some left this box blank or even removed it. One participant wrote, “I do not think race exists.” Implications for teacher education especially with transnational and other “non-traditional” PSTs will be discussed.

In this presentation, we report on an ongoing project, Teaching English Multilingually through Art, starting in April 2024 and implemented in three provinces in Việt Nam: Quảng Ninh, Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên. The project represents a researcher-teacher collaboration between researchers from the University of Glasgow and Thái Nguyên University of Education, 65 teacher-facilitators, ±600 teachers from lower secondary schools and 3 museums. The aim of this project is to encourage creativity, pedagogical innovation and transformation of English classroom and to support teachers’ professional development through TAGs (Teacher Activity Groups).

The project builds on two frameworks: (1) a multi/translingual framework acknowledging that language learning and teaching happen when we draw creatively and critically on all the language resources that learners bring to class (Jones 2020; Li 2018); and (2) an arts-based framework that we have developed through our own previous research (Futro, Faulds, & Hirsu 2024; Hirsu, Zacharias & Futro 2021). With the support of these frameworks, we address English teachers’ current challenges: time for creativity in the classroom, the pressure of a structured curriculum, students struggling with English learning orientation, low resources in remote mountainous areas, and the diversity of learners belonging to different ethnic groups. Our project will be of interest to language teachers who want to develop inclusive activities that approach language learning from a place of resourcefulness. In this sense we will share teachers’ experiences from our project based on data collected through surveys, TAGs observations, teachers’ stories of change and classroom materials. More widely, teachers interested in professional development would have an opportunity to learn about our innovative TAGs model of peer-to-peer learning. This model integrates multiple language and arts-based cultural resources with the support of local stakeholders, e.g., educational programme coordinators in local museums, while ensuring the sustainability of the project beyond the classroom context.

Research Aim:

The paper explores how The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (hereafter TBITSP) can be used to educate students on the pedagogical and moral issues surrounding the text. The ubiquity of the novel and film means dismissing it outright is simply unhelpful; instead, I wanted to find more meaningful ways of engaging with TBITSP that empowered students by making them aware of the socio-political factors concerning the text’s historical inaccuracies and its prominence in education.

Theoretical Framework:

Inspired by critical literacy practitioners such as Hilary Janks, Navan Govender, and Holocaust scholars Andy Pearce and Tony Kushner, this unit explored what preconceptions students had of the Holocaust, their familiarity with TBITSP, and their knowledge of Jewish people in the UK and beyond. The series of lessons leaned on critical literacy methodologies, prompting students to consider the social and political context of TBITSP and why Boyne wrote the story.

Methods:

Students were surveyed on what they knew about the Holocaust, if they’d seen or read TBITSP, and if they thought it was an accurate reflection of the Holocaust. Thereafter, the lessons encouraged students to question whose perspective the narrative was being told from, whose viewpoints were being excluded, and what effect such narrative positioning had in terms of who the audience sympathised and identified with. Students were given the following thesis statement to respond to, using expert-led scholarship to support and augment their argument: TBITSP should not be used to teach students about the Holocaust.

Findings:

At the beginning, almost all students indicated they thought TBITSP was a factual, accurate, and truthful story. By the end of the unit, student surveys showed they no longer felt that to be the case but demonstrated a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the Holocaust.