Critical language awareness

Authors Nicolien Montesano Montessori
Published in Nicolina Montesano Montessori & George Lenkeek (Eds.). Opening up spaces for meaningful engagement in educational praxis.
Publication date 1 November 2020
Research groups Value-oriented Professionalisation
Type Book

Summary

In times of stability, it is relatively easy – or so it seems – to educate students for a ‘known’ future. My argument in this chapter is that we live in a time of multiple transitions (Rotmans, 2015), multiple crises (Capra & Luisi, 2014; Wahl, 2016; Sayer, 1994; Harvey, 2000; Jessop, 2012) and an unknown future. We are heading for an unknown future which, because of climate change, in its two extremes may either end in complete destruction or may be shaped by a shift towards a new sustainable balance: either a breakdown or a breakthrough (Wahl, 2016). Turbulent times tend to be fertile podia for a wide array of narratives that seek to make sense of the crisis, and which present imaginaries about the future. According to Jessop (2002), capitalism develops in a sequence of spatio-temporal fixes that each end in a crisis and then lead to competing narratives. This chapter claims that it is important for the educational community – and for society at large – to develop sufficient critical language awareness in order to be able to both critically analyse and evaluate existing narratives. In addition, it is important to be able to articulate our own narratives so as to be empowered to participate in this process of imagining and co-creating the future (Kress, 2000; Harvey, 2000).

On this publication contributed

Language English
Published in Nicolina Montesano Montessori & George Lenkeek (Eds.). Opening up spaces for meaningful engagement in educational praxis.
ISBN/ISSN URN:ISBN:9789463012928
Key words critical language awareness , educational praxis , Narratives
Page range 129-150

Nicolien Montesano Montessori

Nicolien Montesano Montessori | Associate professor | Value-oriented Professionalisation

Nicolien Montesano Montessori

  • Senior lecturer
  • Research group: Social Interaction in Public Spaces