Critical conversations with K-12 English language teachers: inquiries into social class, privilege, power and agency
| dc.contributor.author | Ferreira da Costa, Karla | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Schmidt, Clea (Curriculum, Teaching and Learning) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Brydon, Diana (English, Theatre, Film & Media) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Toohey, Kelleen (Simon Fraser University) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Honeyford, Michelle | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-12-15T22:14:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-12-15T22:14:04Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2022-12-15 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-12-15 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2022-12-15T21:20:25Z | en_US |
| dc.degree.discipline | Education | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | English language teaching contexts in Manitoba reflect the tensions generated by elements such as poverty, educational gaps due to forced migration, and the role of the education system in the colonization of Indigenous Peoples. In this study, I sought to take a dialogic inquiry as a stance and discuss what impedes or enables educational efforts to address inequities in language and literacy education in the K-12 Manitoba school system. Thus, this research pursued opportunities to challenge normalized views of the status quo and contribute to perspectives of English Language Arts (ELA) teaching and learning that further social change. The objective was to understand what happens when educators are invited to critically engage with texts, concepts, and their own experiences. The topics addressed in them revolved around issues of power, agency, privilege, and social class. In order to carry out this investigation, I conducted initial interviews, a series of three meetings, and final interviews with a group of ELA teachers from Manitoba over a period of three months. This study is informed by theories that highlight power and inequalities in language and literacy education and research, drawing upon critical literacies, decolonial theories, and Bourdieu’s concepts of class, habitus, symbolic violence, and his theory of action. Findings show that collectively engaging with texts, inquiries, and meaning-making with a focus on power generated opportunities to suspend, interrupt, and respond otherwise to understandings, content, and practices that did not align with the teachers’ views of their contexts. Considering that English language teachers are implicated in systems of authority and knowledge informed by colonial understandings, this study advocates for continuous professional learning that critically explores positionalities, identities, places, and literacies that perform and are performed in dynamic relations of power. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | February 2023 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/37007 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | teacher learning | en_US |
| dc.subject | power | en_US |
| dc.subject | positionality | en_US |
| dc.subject | social class | en_US |
| dc.subject | English language education | en_US |
| dc.title | Critical conversations with K-12 English language teachers: inquiries into social class, privilege, power and agency | en_US |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | en_US |
| local.subject.manitoba | yes | en_US |
| oaire.awardTitle | University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF) | en_US |
| project.funder.name | University of Manitoba | en_US |