The Language Engagement Project is developing new curriculum that will serve as a foundation to develop a new, innovative interdisciplinary minor in language and social justice. Throughout the initiative, we will work with our external research partners and connect with potential partnering Rutgers departments to fully develop the new minor. This minor responds to reported interests in language and issues of inequality by Linguistics majors, and fills a gap institutionally and regionally, as it is an area of specialization not common in schools on the east coast of the United States.
The goals of language education in the United States have always been informed by the social, historical, and political contexts in which the instruction takes place. The Language Engagement Project and the Language Center are developing a certificate – for professional development credit for in-service language teachers - on Social Justice in the Language Classroom. The proposed certificate will examine practical strategies to incorporate social justice education in all language classrooms, and to explore critical pedagogy and transformative learning that inform social justice in language education. Avenues and opportunities for effective social justice instruction at the lesson planning and course design level will be explored.
