Student teachers’ knowledge production processes within socially just educational principles and practices in Brazil

ABSTRACT

This article analyses how themes and problematisations concerning social justice presented in a pre-service English language teacher education programme in São Paulo, Brazil, resonate in student teachers’ knowledge production processes. To do so, the case study is presented in two parts. The first one examines the theoretical foundations and the organisation of two specific courses on language teaching methodology, courses whose epistemological approach aligns with decoloniality and narrative documentation of learning experiences. In the second part, essays produced by student teachers enrolled in these courses are analysed thematically to discuss evidence of how the course resonates on student teachers’ knowledge of more culturally sensitive and socially relevant educational principles and practices. This double-folded analysis reveals the transversality of social justice principles and practices in student teachers’ process of becoming English language teachers and language educators with a sense of belonging to all-embracing commitments of the profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Social justice – English language teaching – decoloniality – teacher education – knowledge production

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For this article, one exemplary excerpt was chosen to illustrate each dimension. Each excerpt is followed by its identification code, in which the first letter is the initial letter of the student teacher's name, Meli I or II stands for the name of the course (Methology of English, or, in Portuguese, Metodologia do Ensino de Ingles), followed by the year when it was produced.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

L. A. D. Rodrigues

L. A. D. Rodrigues, research and teaching at the School of Education of the University of Sao Paulo.

Ana Paula Duboc

Ana Paula Duboc, research and teaching at the School of Education of the University of Sao Paulo.