Exploring the Grounds for the Study of the Identity of Indigenous English Language Teachers in Colombia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.713

Keywords:

Indigenous English language teachers, teacher identities, decolonial thought, cultural diversity, linguistic diversity

Abstract

This article addresses the invisibilization of the existence of indigenous teachers in the Colombian ELT (English language teaching) field. Their existence, which is admittedly a phenomenon that lacks quantitative saliency, offers opportunities to reflect on the epistemological asymmetries that traditionally have linked the Colombian ELT field to an instrumental mainstream bilingualism, often ignoring the conditions of linguistic and cultural diversity in the country. Besides, there is an exploration of how the study of indigenous teachers’ identities might contribute to the re-signification of pedagogy; this paper elaborates on the idea that scholars in the Colombian ELT have already built some horizons of understanding between the ELT and the diversities and epistemic privileges of Colombian indigeneity. The article is part of an ongoing research on the identities of indigenous teachers in the Colombian ELT being carried out within the Interinstitutional Ph.D. in Education at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Carlos Arias-Cepeda, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Colombia

M.A. on Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, is a teacher and teacher-educator, working for Institución Universitaria Colombo- Americana –ÚNICA. He is currently studying the Interinstitutional PhD in Education at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. His research interests include identity, ecologies of knowledges, and decolonial studies in ELT.

References

Alexander, S. (2003). Walking on Thin Ice: The Il/legitimacy of Race and Racial Issues in the Classroom. In D. Freedman, & M. Stoddard (Eds.). The teacher's body: Embodiment, authority, and identity in the Academy (pp, 105- 118). New York: State University of New York.

Anderson, C. & Uribe-Jongbloed, E. (2015). Minority languages in networks of overlapping, hierarchical communities in Colombia. In P. Heinrich & N. Ostler (Eds.) Indigenous languages and their value to their community [Proceedings of the 18th FEL Conference] (pp132- 137.) Bath: Foundation for Endangered Languages.

Arismendi, F. (2016). La competencia plurilingüe y pluricultural en la formación de futuros docentes de lenguas extranjeras en una universidad pública en Colombia. Folios, 44, 109-125. https://doi.org/10.17227/01234870.44folios109.125

Barkhuizen, G. (2016). A short story approach to analyzing teacher (imagined) identities over time. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 655-683. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.311

Bakhtin, M.M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M.M. Bakhtin. In C. Emerson (Ed.), (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Baxter, J. (2003). Positioning Gender in Discourse: A Feminist methodology. New York: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501263

Bermúdez, J., & Fandiño, J. (2012). El fenómeno bilingüe: perspectivas y tendenciasen bilingüismo". Revista de la Universidad de La Salle, 59, 99-124

Block, D. (2005). Convergence and resistance in the construction of personal and professional identities: four French modern language teachers in London. In A. S.Canagarajah (Ed.) Reclaiming the Local in Language policy and Practice (pp 167-196) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum Publishers.

Bonilla, X. (2018). Racial identity in educational practices in the context of Colombia (Unpublished doctoral dissertation thesis). Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Location. Retrieved from https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/5df94517503017aca116f68c33f24ed2ec1c37ec0cc24a0d011115354f900623/2232944/Thesis_Ximena_with_viva_ammendments_19-01-2018.pdf

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. C. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. New York: Greenwood Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (2000). Intelectuales, política y poder. Buenos Aires: Eudeba.

Cárdenas, N. (2018). Perspectivas para un estudio sobre bilingüismo en universidades regionales colombianas. Revista historia de la educación latinoamericana, 20 (31), 125 - 142. https://doi.org/10.19053/01227238.8566

Cardinal, T., & Fenichel, S. (2017). Indigenous Education, Relational Pedagogy, and Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry: A Reflective Journey of Teaching Teachers. In Crossroads of the Classroom: Narrative Intersections of Teacher Knowledge and Subject Matter (pp. 243-273). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720160000028019

Carrasquillo, A. & Rodríguez, V. (2002). Language minority students in the mainstream classroom. Clevedon: Multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853595660

Castro-Gómez, S. (2005). Ciencias sociales, violencia epistémica y el problema de la «invención del otro. In E. Lander (Ed.). La colonialidad del saber: eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. Perspectivas latinoamericanas (pp 153-172). La Habana: Instituto Cubano del Libro.

Castro-Gómez, S. & Grosfoguel, R. (2007). El giro decolonial: reflexiones para una diversidad epistémica más allá del capitalismo global. Bogotá: Universidad Javeriana y Siglo del Hombre Editores.

Clarke, M. (2008). Language teacher identities: Co-constructing discourse and community. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847690838

Claussen, S., & Osborne, J. (2013). Bourdieu's notion of cultural capital and its implications for the science curriculum. Science Education, 97 (1) 58-79. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21040

Corte Constitucional de Colombia (1998). Sentencia SU-510 (About indigenous peoples' autonomy), retrieved June 12, 2019 from http://www.urosario.edu.co/urosario_files/af/af214b5f-60b2-4785-b6da-d4dd0b0c2855.pdf.

Craith, M. N. (2012). Narratives of place, belonging and language: An intercultural perspective. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230355514

Cruz, F. (2018). The wisdom of teachers' personal theories: Creative ELT practices from Colombian rural schools. Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 20 (2), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v20n2.67142

Cuasialpud Canchala, R. (2010). Indigenous students' attitudes towards learning English through a virtual program: A study in a Colombian public university. PROFILE Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 12(2), 133-152.

De Mejía, A.-M. (2006). Bilingual education in Colombia: Towards a recognition of languages, cultures, and identities. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 8, 152-168. https://doi.org/10.14483/22487085.176

De Sousa, B. (2006). Conocer desde el sur: Para una cultura política emancipatoria. Lima: Programa de Estudios sobre Democracia y Transformación Global.

De Sousa, B. (2007). Beyond abyssal thinking: From global lines to ecologies of knowledges. Review XXX, 1, 45-89.

De Sousa, B. (2010).Descolonizar el saber, reinventar el poder. Montevideo: Ediciones,Trilce.

Dixon, M., & Senior, K. (2011). Appearing pedagogy: From embodied learning and teaching to embodied pedagogy. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 19(3), 473-484. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2011.632514

Dussel, I. (2005). Las políticas curriculares de la última década en América Latina: Nuevos actores, nuevos problemas. In Fundación Santillana (Ed.). Educación de calidad para todos: Iniciativas iberoamericanas (pp 297-305). Madrid: Santillana.

Dussel, E. (2013). The Philosophy of Liberation: An Interview with Enrique Dussel (Part I), conducted by Mahvish Ahmad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico, retrieved on March 11, 2018 from Naked Punch, http://nakedpunch.com/articles/186.

Escobar, A. (2003). Mundos y conocimientos de otro modo. Tabula Rasa,1, 51-86. https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.188

Escobar, W. & Gómez, J. (2010). Silenced fighters: identity, language and thought of the Nasa people in bilingual contexts of Colombia. PROFILE, Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 12 (2), 125- 140.

Escudero, M. (2008). When (non) Anglo-Saxon Queers Speak in a Queer Language: Homogeneous Identities or Disenfranchised Bodies? In C., Caldas-Coulthard, & R. Iedema (Eds.) Identity Trouble: Critical Discourse and Contested Identities (pp77- 94). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230593329_5

Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic injustice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001

Gallegos, P. (2005). Performing school in the shadow of imperialism: A Hybrid (Coyote) Interpretation. In B. Alexander, G. Anderson, & B. Gallegos (Eds.) Performance theories in education: Power, pedagogy, and the politics of identity (pp 107-126 ). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.

Gilbert, J. (2010). Custodians of the land: indigenous peoples, human rights and cultural integrity. In M. Langfield, W. Logan, N. Craith (Eds), Cultural diversity, heritage and human rights (pp. 31- 44). London: Routledge.

Giroux, H.A. (1994). Living dangerously: Identity politics and the new cultural racism. In H.A. Giroux & P. McLaren (Eds.), Between borders: Pedagogy and the politics of cultural studies (pp. 29-55). New York: Routledge.

Giroux, H. A. (2005). Border crossing: cultural workers and the politics of education. New York: Routledge.

Gónzalez-Arnal, S. (2015). Justicia Epistemológica: Escuchando al Sur. Nuevos desafío para la inclusión social y la equidad en instituciones de educación superior. In M. Rifa, L. Duarte, & M. Ponferrada (Eds.), Nuevos desafíos para la inclusión social y la equidad en instituciones de educación superior. Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.

Granados-Beltrán, C. (2016). Critical interculturality. A path for pre-service ELT teachers. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 21 (2), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v21n02a04

Grossfoguel, R. (2011). Paradigms of political-economy: Transmodernity, decolonial thinking and global coloniality. Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(1), 1-38.

Grossfoguel, R. (2016). Del extractivismo económico al extractivismo epistémico y ontológico. Revista Internacional de Comunicación y Desarrollo, 4, 33-45. https://doi.org/10.15304/ricd.1.4.3295

Guerrero, C. H. (2010). The portrayal of EFL teachers in official discourse: The perpetuation of disdain. PROFILE: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 12(2), 34-49.

Huddy, L. (2001). From social to political identity: A critical examination of social identity theory. Political Psychology, 22,127-156. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00230

Iedema, R. (2003). Multimodality, resemiotization: Extending the analysis of discourse as multi-semiotic practice. Visual Communication, 2(1), 29-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357203002001751

Jaraba, L., & Carrascal, A. (2012) Ethnoenglish: trazando palabras, historias y proyectos de vida del pueblo Zenú. Ikala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura. 17 (1), 95- 104.

Joseph, J. (2004). Language and Identity: National, ethnic, religious. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230503427

Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Beyond methods macrostrategies for language teaching. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Lander, R. (2018). Queer English language teacher identity: A narrative exploration in Colombia. Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 20(1), 89-101. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v20n1.63658

Loomba, A. (2000). Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London: Routledge.

Maldonado-Torres, N. (2017). On the coloniality of human rights. Revista Crítica de Ciencias Sociais, 114, 117-136.

https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.6793

McCarty, T., & Zepeda, O. (1999) Amerindians. In J. Fishman (Ed). Handbook of language & ethnic identity. (pp 196-210). New York: Oxford University Press.

McCarty, T., Skutnabb-Kangas, T., & Magga, O. (2008). Education for speakers of endangered languages. In B. Spolsky and F. Hult (Eds.), The handbook of educational linguistics (pp 297-312). Malden: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470694138.ch21

Menezes, L. (2005). The Ecology of Writing Among the Kashinawá: Indigenous Multimodality in Brazil. In A. S.Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice (pp 72- 98) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum Publishers.

Mignolo, W. (2000). Local histories/global designs: Coloniality, subaltern knowledges and border thinking. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Mignolo, W. (2009). Epistemic disobedience, independent thought and de-colonial freedom. Theory, Culture & Society, 26(7-8), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276409349275

Mignolo, W. (2013). Geopolitics of sensing and knowing: on (de)coloniality, border thinking and epistemic disobedience. Confero 1 (1), 129-150. https://doi.org/10.3384/confero.2001-4562.13v1i1129

Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2016). Derechos básicos de aprendizaje de inglés. Retrieved on May 12, 2019 from http://aprende.colombiaaprende.edu.co/ckfinder/userfiles/files/cartillaDBA.pdf

Morgan, B. (2017). Language teacher identity as critical social practice. In: G. Barkhuizen (Ed.), Reflections on language teacher identity research (pp. 203-209). New York: Routledge.

Ndlovu, M. (2014). Why indigenous knowledges in the 21st Century? A decolonial turn. Yesterday & Today, 11, 84-98.

Niezen, R. (2003). The origins of indigenism: human rights and the politics of identity. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520235540.001.0001

Papastergiadis, N. (2000). The Turbulence of Migration: Globalization, Deterritorialization and Hybridity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Phillipson, R & Skutnabb- Kangas, T. (1996). English only worldwide, or language Ecology. TESOL Quarterly, Special Topic Issue: Language Planning and Policy. T. Ricento & N. Hornberger (eds), 429-452. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587692

Piñeros, M., Rosselli, D., & Calderon, C. (1998). An epidemic of collective conversion and dissociation disorder in an indigenous group of Colombia: its relation to cultural change. Social Science & Medicine, 46(11), 1425-1428.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(97)10094-6

Piazzini, C. (2014). Conocimientos situados y pensamientos fronterizos: una relectura desde la universidad. Geopolítica(s). Revista de estudios sobre espacio y poder, 5 (1), 11-33. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_GEOP.2014.v5.n1.47553

Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of Power, Ethnocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla, 1 (3), 533-580.

Quintero, A, & Guerrero, C. (2013). Of Being and not Being: Colombian public elementary school teachers' oscillating identities. HOW, A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English, 20 (1), 190-205

Rajagopalan, K. (2005). The language issue in Brazil: When local knowledge clashes with expert knowledge. In A. S.Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice (pp 99-122). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum Publishers.

Restrepo, E., & Rojas, A. (2010). Inflexión decolonial: fuentes, conceptos y cuestionamientos. Popayán: Instituto de Estudios Sociales y Culturales Pensar Maestría en Estudios Culturales, Universidad Javeriana Editorial Universidad del Cauca.

Robayo, L. & Cárdernas, M. (2017) Inclusive Education and ELT Policies in Colombia: Views from Some PROFILE Journal Authors. PROFILE Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 19(1), 121- 136. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v19n1.61075

Scott, J. (1990). Domination and the arts of resistance hidden transcripts. London: Yale University Press.

Sium, A., Desai, C., & Ritskes, E. (2012). Towards the 'tangible unknown': Decolonization and the Indigenous future. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1 (1), I-XIII

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2001). The Globalisation of (Educational) Language Rights. International Review of Education. 47 (3), 201- 219. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017989407027

Suárez-Krabbe, J. (2011). Identidad y ser: Un análisis de ausencias y emergencias con los mamos de Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In A. Vianello y B. Mañé (Eds.). Formas Otras. Saber, nombrar, narrar, hacer (pp. 159-169). Barcelona: CIDOB.

Swain, A. (2005). Education as social action: Knowledge, identity, and power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230505605

Uribe‑Jongbloed, E., & Anderson, C. (2014). Indigenous and minority languages in Colombia: The current situation. Zeszyty Łużyckie, 48, 217- 242.

Usma, J. A., Ortiz, J. M. and Gutiérrez, C. P. (2018). Indigenous students learning English in higher education: Challenges and Hopes. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 23(2), 229-254. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v23n02a03

Vanegas, M., Fernández, J., González, Y., Jaramillo, G., Muñoz, L., & Ríos, C. (2015). Linguistic discrimination in an English language teacing Program: Voices of the invisible others. Ílkala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura. 21(2), 133-151. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v21n02a02

Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B. & Johnson, K. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of language, identity, and education. 4(1), 21-44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2

Warren, J. T. (2001). Doing whiteness: On the performative dimensions of race in the classroom. Communication Education, 50, 91-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520109379237

Zizek, S. (2002). For they know not what they do: Enjoyment as a political factor. New York: Verso.

Downloads

Published

2020-06-11

How to Cite

Arias-Cepeda, C. (2020). Exploring the Grounds for the Study of the Identity of Indigenous English Language Teachers in Colombia. GIST – Education and Learning Research Journal, 20, 189–214. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.713

Altmetric

Article metrics
Abstract views
Galley vies
PDF Views
HTML views
Other views

Some similar items: