CRLCC Public Talk- Language Education in Contemporary Brazilian Educational Policies: Teachers between Conflicting Epistemologies

November 14th from 12 to 1 pm
Room: YH-170
( Presentation will be delivered in english)

Language Education in Contemporary Brazilian Educational Policies:
Teachers between Conflicting Epistemologies
Professor Ana Paula Duboc
School of Education, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Despite contributions from Social Sciences research in the past decades, we now witness the emergence of neoconservative educational policies under the far-right Bolsonaro government, which clearly undermine the notions of democracy and secularism in Brazil. Within the field of language studies, in particular, this renewed emphasis on structuralist, cognitive orientations to language can be seen as promoting religious and salvationist agendas that attempt to erase awareness of power, ideology, and critique in schools and in the broader society. The recently approved National Literacy Policy (2019) is an example of such a move as its focus on phonics-based literacy instruction, underpinned by scientific, evidence-based discourses, is a clear attack against critical perspectives to language education. The policy is part of an orchestrated set of neoliberal, militaristic and political actions which are highly ideologically driven despite official claims of neutrality. For many language teachers, these developments have led to a sense of hopelessness, confusion, and incapacity. Out of these highly polarized times emerges the need for sustained critical self-reflection for both language teachers and researchers, in particular, on the relevance and effectiveness of past curricular efforts to bring about a truly inclusive and democratic society through education. This talk aims at presenting a brief analysis of current Brazilian educational policies, followed by the discussion on how decolonial thought might help language teachers to think language education otherwise.

Biodata
Ana Paula DUBOC holds a PhD in English Language Studies from the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, having conducted part of her research at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. She teaches the undergraduate course “English Teaching Methodologies” in the Department of Teaching Methodology and Comparative Education at the School of Education from the University of São Paulo (FEUSP). In the graduate program, she is responsible for the course “Language, (Super)Diversity, and Coloniality: Pedagogical Implications”. Her research interests comprise critical literacy studies, language and decoloniality, language assessment, language policies, curriculum issues, language teacher education. Email: anaduboc@usp.br