English for a Critical Mind - Language pedagogy for social justice, by Alessia Cogo, Graham Crookes, and Sávio Siqueira
Reviewed by Christopher Walker
I wonder sometimes if language teachers (and, therefore, all teachers) might be placed into one of two groups: those who see their job as to educate their students in a particular subject; and those who see the job of teacher as extending beyond the walls of the classroom.
If I’m right, then this book by DELTA Publishing will raise eyebrows among the former group while delighting the latter. To tell which of these groups you belong to, it serves to consider the ‘critical’ in the book’s title. When I received my review copy, my first thought was ‘critical thinking’, possibly along the lines of something by the late Edward de Bono. In fact, the ‘critical’ here is more along the lines of ‘critical race theory’ (CRT), an approach that has had its fair share of critics.
“English for a Critical Mind” is part of DELTA Publishing’s Development Series of books, each of which seeks to take the reader towards a more expert understanding of a particular area of teaching. The first section of the book considers theory; the second provides a set of handouts and lesson materials in support of the core ideas in the first part; and the third suggests ways that interested teachers might explore the topic further.
The book puts forward the case for Critical language pedagogy (CLP), which is a way of teaching that seeks to change the world around the learner, maximising democracy and minimising inequality.
I should point out at this early stage that I have my concerns about CLP. If approached inexpertly (and I have seen this happen), a teacher aiming to raise awareness of societal problems where they teach can come across as antagonistic to their students. This has happened to at least one teacher at my school in the years that I have been here; perhaps, though, this book would have formalised their approach and avoided some of the problems they faced as a result of their attitude.
However, in many countries, teachers will not be supported in their quest to speak out about inequality, racism, the environment, and other hot-topic issues. I follow Katherine Bilsborough on social media, and often read about her adventures in materials creation. If, working for an Arabic-speaking market, she is forbidden from using the word ‘zoo’ in materials about animals because words beginning with ‘z’ are considered rude, I doubt very much if teachers seeking to apply the tenets of this book would do very well in the same Arabic-speaking market.
In short, I feel it is not just the teacher’s job that is at stake when they consider applying CLP in their classroom - I fear that, in extreme cases, a teacher who pushes too hard against the society around them could soon find themselves in trouble with the local authorities. Unfortunately, warnings of this nature do not appear until around page 160.
Strengths
“English for a Critical Mind” is an ideas book, but it is also full of activities and materials that can be taken directly into the language classroom.
Many of the ideas espoused by the writers are ripe for adoption: “[C]rucially important - conceptually significant - in CLP, is the idea that at least some of the content and form of the course is jointly determined and negotiated between teacher and student, and among students as well” (p28). I agree with this entirely - much of the dissatisfaction among students, at my school at least, has to do with what students are expected to cover in any given year.
I often receive complaints, especially among my teenage base, that too much of the syllabus concerns topics that either lack interest or are treated in an uninteresting way. One area that my students routinely rebel against is on climate change - and they do have a point, as most young people are better informed on the ongoing climate emergency than I am, and when my teenagers say that the course book is talking down to them, I agree with them.
However, it is not easy to negotiate the syllabus - even designing a syllabus in the first place is a difficult task. It is very helpful, therefore, that the book includes careful guidance - and supporting materials - that will take the teacher through this process as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Another strength comes in the form of the wide-ranging materials later in the book. These will be a boon for teachers who have grown frustrated with their course books’ refusal to consider difficult topics more than superficially.
Shortcomings
CLP, it seems, goes hand in hand with English as a lingua franca (ELF). “This non-normative approach [as extolled in the book] also requires a move away from a native-speaker dominance in language learning and teaching” (p21). Much has been written about ending the native-speaker dominance among teachers. But this sentence is not about teachers, it strikes me that it is about the English language, and in that context it is a little odd.
There is surely a correct way and an incorrect way to use English (or any other language), and while, under the terms of ELF, meaning is to be negotiated, there must come a time when that meaning must be checked. It is only by checking with an L1 authority that we can see the difference between correct and incorrect - and this applies regardless of the origins of the speaker.
It doesn’t matter how many grocers misuse the apostrophe (signs for banana’s at a market are common in the UK), the apostrophe will never become formally associated with the plural in English, because it is incorrect. As students work towards removing incorrect formulations from their language, they need to know that standards exist and are upheld - suggesting that this might cease to be true in the world of ELF is a touch unhelpful.
A more important shortcoming is that the handouts supplied by the book, though well-designed and well-structured, are not always written in a way that students will find easy to understand. For instance, in negotiating the syllabus, this question appears in the handout: “At least part of this class we will have topics arising from the current state of the world, viewed as less than perfect, and the role of members of society in possibly removing it. How do you feel about that?” (p66). This is too wordy, and the opening phrasing sounds wrong. Fortunately, the majority of the material provided by the book is fine for use - but it’s worth reading everything carefully before you rush to the photocopier!
Conclusion
“English for a Critical Mind” will not be for everyone. Some teachers will feel it pushes them beyond their job description, and others will be working in contexts where the adoption of CLP will carry with it certain risks.
However, it is a consistently interesting book and I recommend it for that if for nothing else - it is good to read books like this that offer opinions you may very well disagree with.
There are other reasons to consider adding this book to your resource library. Senior teachers looking to refresh their school’s offer, or to add more democracy to their syllabus design, will find ideas here that are supported by concrete, readily-applied processes. And those with a passion for social justice are served better by this book than by almost anything else I can think of.