Welcome to Hell My Friend: Democratizing English Language Curriculum in the Colombian Postconflict Era

• In Event: 64.028 - Transational Cartographies of Place, Space, and Desire

Abstract

Colombia has lived more than 50 years of extreme violence that has been mostly translated to marginalized students in public schools in Colombia. This critical ethnographic case study looks at how a social justice and peacebuilding curriculum (SJPBC) has been used in the English classroom to potentialize students to learn English skills that allow them to discuss issues of social justice and resolve problems that are relevant for them. The fieldwork has been carried out in a public high school, in Bogotá, Colombia with three English teachers and students from Grades 6 to 11. Preliminary findings reveal how the class is driven by assessment driven policies and how the negotiated curriculum with the students proves benefits for language learning.

Author

• Yecid Ortega, University of Toronto