Abstract
Shifting educational landscapes have revealed a need for structured critical reflection. While research on culturally responsive teaching practices and critical reflection prompts exist, there is little in the way of short, synthesized resources for busy educators who desire to change systems of inequity. The authors of this chapter have developed the TESOL educator reflective self-checklist (TERS) for on ground and online educators that utilizes recent research on motivation to activate critical reflection and further culturally sustaining classroom practices. This chapter expands on the evidence and development of this reflective checklist, implementation of the checklist, and provides vignettes of the checklist in use.
TopIntroduction
Critical reflection is a valuable step in praxis, but how can educators achieve praxis without any support? Research indicates that educators are better equipped to elevate their socially just classrooms when they have a reflective framework to accommodate them (Dewey, 1910; Schön, 1987; Bryan & Abell, 1999; Deaton, 2012). This chapter asserts that purposeful and habitual reflection through the completion of a self-checklist can enable practicing or training TESOL educators to enact critical praxis regularly in their learning environments. Rather than requiring educators to scour through research, the TESOL Educator Reflective Self-Checklist (TERS) provides reflective statements that distill current research and best practices.
Originally, this checklist was born out of need, as many educators struggled with the transition to online classrooms in spring 2020. Due to governments’ regulations regarding the global COVID-19 pandemic, educators were no longer able to teach in person, as planned. The pressure to maintain high teaching standards left little time for educators to reflect during the pandemic; thus, a need for critical reflection in online classrooms was the leading call to action for the authors in summer 2020. At the onset of the pandemic, the authors were enrolled in a TESOL master’s program at a private university in a southwestern area of the United States, where they engaged with sociopolitical issues as both teachers and students. Bearing contemporary challenges in mind, the authors developed this checklist and presented it virtually at the CATESOL 2020 Annual State Conference. After presenting the checklist and receiving additional feedback, the authors reworked their initial checklist to create the version presented in this chapter (refer to Appendix).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Educational Equity: A philosophy and/or practice that promotes providing historically underserved students with individualized support, differing from educational equality in that it is not the same generalized support that every student receives (i.e ., a complimentary school planner).
Culturally Responsive Instruction: Attributed to Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, this term refers to a teaching practice aimed at preparing culturally and linguistically minoritized students for success in mainstream society by affirming their home cultures and languages. This term has been criticized for its lack of criticality in the field of education and for not reflecting widespread changes within society.
Pedagogy: A teaching philosophy that provides a framework for educators to follow, dictating their approaches to best teaching practices.
Critical Pedagogy: A teaching philosophy to which interrogation of systemic inequities is central. Students are viewed as active civic members of society (rather than passive learners) who are agents in liberation.
Emerging Bilinguals: Language students who are in the process of simultaneously developing their home language and a second language.
Social Justice: The concept of fairness and privilege that individuals and groups have within society, particularly regarding wealth, access to resources, treatment within legal systems, etc.
Critical Reflection: A process of considering and interrogating one's beliefs, feelings, experiences, and actions, their impact, and enacting conceptual or practical change.
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A teaching philosophy that centers on leveraging students’ unique cultural skill sets and knowledge in the classroom, particularly with reference to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students.