Postsecondary French, German, and Spanish teachers' conceptualizations of social justice: A case study

Abstract

Social justice and critical pedagogies have become an increasingly important focus in language education in recent years. Although instructional and professional development resources are increasingly available, little is known about how language teachers understand social justice and related pedagogies, particularly in postsecondary contexts. Relatedly, little is known about how teachers understand critical pedagogies that prioritize language-content integration through a simultaneous focus on proficiency development and engagement with target language texts. This multiple case study addresses these research gaps by examining postsecondary French, German, and Spanish teachers' conceptualizations of social justice in language education as they created social justice curricular units. Findings show that these conceptualizations are complex and multifaceted and span the what, why, and how of social justice in language education. Insights gleaned from these findings have important implications for language teacher professional development and future research.