Diversity without Borders:
Social Justice in the World
Language Classroom
Raquel Oxford
WAFLT
November 7, 2009
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
World language curriculum
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Shaped by standards from ACTFL and
National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards (NBPTS)
Issues such as equity and access
Economic realities
District priorities
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
National Standards
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Communication: Communicate in Languages Other
Than English (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)
Cultures: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other
Cultures (2.1, 2.2)
Connections: Connect With Other Disciplines and
Acquire Information (3.1, 3.2)
Comparisons: Develop Insight Into the Nature of
Language and Culture (4.1, 4.2)
Communities: Participate in Multilingual Communities
at Home and Around the World (5.1, 5.2)
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
NBPTS revised standards 2008
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Knowledge of
students
Knowledge of
language
Knowledge of culture
Knowledge of
language acquisition
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Fair and equitable
learning environments
Designing curriculum
and planning
instruction
Assessment
Reflection
Professionalism
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Fair and equitable environment
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Accomplished teachers of world languages
demonstrate their commitment to the
principles of equity, strength through
diversity, and fairness. Teachers welcome
diverse learners who represent our
multiracial, multilingual, and multiethnic
society, and create inclusive, caring,
challenging, and stimulating classroom
environments in which all students can
actively learn.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Social justice
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“Social justice has much to do with ideas
about legitimacy, about fairness and
impartiality, about welfare and mutual
advantage, and about political and social
consensus” (Corson, 1993, p. 27).
Nieto (2008) “defines social justice as a
philosophy, an approach, and actions that
embody treating all people with fairness,
respect, dignity, and generosity.”
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Empowering our students
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Freire (1970) defines “the practice of
freedom: the means by which men and
women deal critically and creatively with
reality and discover how to participate in
the transformation of their world.” (p.15)
Change~
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Waiting for the World to Change
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How can we embrace diversity
and incorporate issues of social
justice into our classrooms?
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Diversity by design
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Focus on larger essential questions
(Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) or big ideas
defined as “a concept, theme, or issue
that gives meaning and connection to
discrete facts and skills” (5)
What are some examples of big ideas or
themes in the world language classroom?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Essential questions
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Beginning level “Who am I?”/”Who are
you?” or “What is my/your life like?”
Higher levels of language development
with “How do we look at the world?”
(Sandrock, 2002)
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“Why do people eat what they do?” or
“How do our food choices impact our lives
and the lives of others?”
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Glastonbury Public Schools:
K-12 language for many years!
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Essential questions were tied as much as
possible to social studies or language arts
curriculum
Meaningful to students, many student
generated
Age appropriate
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Essential questions/big
ideas/thematic units
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Grade 1: How do we name things in a
different language?
Grade 2: Who are my neighbors?
Grade 3: Why is my day the way it is?
Is it different from other countries?
Grade 4: Why do we explore and what
do we find?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Big ideas/Unit themes
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(continued)
Grade 5: Who are the peoples of the
Americas? How do they live?
Grade 6: How do you unlock the
mystery of travel?
Grade 7: What is culture?
Grade 8: What is foreign?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Big ideas/Unit themes
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(continued)
Grade 9: What happens when two
cultures meet?
Grade 10: Who are the
Spanish/French/Latin/Russians?
Grade 11: Who are we? What is selfidentity, especially in diverse societies?
Grade 12: How are we transformed by
our study of language and culture?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Recall for a moment and share
with a partner (think, pair, share)
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Did you encounter any social justice
themes when you first began learning
another language?
What were those themes and how did
they impact you?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Thematic planning
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Makes instruction comprehensible
Focus becomes use of language
Rich context
Natural setting
Engaging activities
Makes connections
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Culture
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How would you define culture?
What challenges are faced when exploring
culture in the classroom?
Consider products, practices and
perspectives
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
As you get started
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Embrace diversity by having broad
multicultural representation in your
classroom
Create a safe learning environment
Design as thematically as possible with
essential questions
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Teaching World Languages for
Social Justice: A Sourcebook
for Principles and Practices
Osborn encourages problem-posing at the
center of the curriculum so students can be
more critical thinkers
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Osborn’s Four Thematic Pillars
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Identity
Social architecture
Language choices
Activism
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Identity
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Identity (Who am I? Who are we?)
Affiliation (Who are we? Who are they?)
Conflict, struggle, and discrimination
Socioeconomic class
The language choices related to self and
other impact issues of social justice
significantly.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Social architecture
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What we believe: ideology
Historical perspectives (dialectic format)
Schools and languages: hidden curricula
Media: entertainment
Learning to question one’s own
perspectives critically is a prerequisite to
positioning oneself to make a difference.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Language choices
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Beyond manners: register and political power
relations
Whose culture is whose? Hybridity
Media: journalism and politicians
Who is in control? Hegemony
Language serves to reflect, resist, and
recreate social realities.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Activism
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Law, rights, resistance, and marginalization
Activism brings the learning to a point
having personal meaning and social
impact—creating a more socially just
society.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Sample structural, grammar or
vocabulary themes
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Identity:
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personal pronouns
present tense verbs
direct and indirect objects
adjectives
vocabulary about the students’ everyday
worlds (identities): family, friends, self,
possessions, and daily life (food, drink,
residence, city/region, etc), stating opinions
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Sample structural, grammar or
vocabulary themes
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Social Architecture:
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past tense verbs (historical perspectives, etc),
modal verbs (should, must, can, want, etc)
formal vs. informal speech
passive voice and agency
vocabulary that would help demonstrate the
architecture of different societies (school,
clothing, health)
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Sample structural, grammar or
vocabulary themes
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Language choices:
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subjunctive and conditional verbs
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advanced constructions of thoughts and desires in
differing perspectives
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sociolinguistics of educational language
politeness and etiquette
expression of “realities vs. ‘alternate’ realities” (dialectics)
writing
reading
speaking
vocabulary that is specific to various sociopolitical
topics (environment, government, labor, economics)
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Sample structural, grammar or
vocabulary themes
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Activism
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specifics of composition and speech mechanics
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essays
letter writing
debates
transitions and conjunctions
imperative mode and future tense
informative and persuasive structures
literature and advanced authentic texts
vocabulary that is specific to sociopolitical topics
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Four corners activity
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
For your pillar
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Brainstorm specific social justice topics
and connections, vocabulary and
structures as well as activities
Be prepared to share
Ballad of the Two Grandfathers by
Nicholas Guillen
Zouk
Skinheads
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Kubota’s “Four D’s” of a critical
approach to teaching culture
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Descriptive rather than prescriptive
understandings of culture
Acknowledgement of diversity within culture
A view of culture as dynamic rather than
permanent
An exploration of the discursive (deliberate)
elements in our construction of cultural selves
and others
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Viva La Causa from Teaching
Tolerance
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Focuses on the grape strike and boycott
led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta
in the 1960s.
What are some of the common themes in
our classroom that could be connected to
this event?
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
Lessons included
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Lesson 1: Exploring the Film
Lesson 2: Economic Injustice Affects Us All
Lesson 3: Farmworkers and the Union
Lesson 4: Committing to Nonviolence
Lesson 5: Allies for Justice
Lesson 6: Injustice on Our Plates
Lesson 7: Worker Exploitation Today
Lesson 8: The Immigration Debate
Recommended Resources
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
From surviving to thriving!
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Nieto (2009) teachers need collaborative
relationships to nurture action from
dispositions
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Action 1: Learning about themselves
Action 2: Learning about their students
Action 3: Developing allies
Actively engage in your professional
development beyond survival 
Oxford, WAFLT 2009
References and resources
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Derman-Sparks, L. (1989). Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young
Children. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
Nieto, S. (2009). From Surviving to Thriving. Educational Leadership, 66(5), 8-13.
Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity the sociopolitical context of
multicultural education. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Osborn, T. (2006). Teaching world languages for social justice: a sourcebook of
principles and practices. Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum.
Petovello, L. R., Taranko, D., & Nichols, S. (1998). The Spirit that moves us a
literature-based resource guide: teaching about diversity, prejudice, human rights,
and the Holocaust: volume I, grades kindergarten through four. Gardiner, Me:
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Tilbury House Pub.
Rethinking Schools http://www.rethinkingschools.org/
Teaching Tolerance http://www.tolerance.org
Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Oxford, WAFLT 2009