Implementación de un proyecto basado en la comunidad en un aula rural de inglés

Educational work within a social perspective has been a matter of interest and discussion of researchers and teachers whose work is framed within a pedagogy for social justice, community pedagogies, and critical literacy (Comber & Kamler, 2004). A social perspective to education requires that teachers in rural and urban contexts become socially and culturally committed to addressing the learning needs of EFL in classrooms. This article shares the outcomes of the experience of five pre-service teachers who explored a local community of a Colombian rural school with a group of 36 ninth-grade EFL students. The pre-service teachers crafted a project-based curriculum taking the community as the content that would empower the students to explore social and cultural aspects of their community while promoting their EFL learning. Data were collected during the four-month period of the pedagogical intervention through interviews, observations and students’ and teachers’ written reflections. The high school students carried out a series of tasks aimed at raising their awareness about their identity, questioning their surroundings and increasing their self-confidence while using their knowledge of English. La investigación en educación con perspectiva social ha sido un tema de interés y discusión para investigadores y profesores cuyo trabajo está enmarcado en la pedagogía para justicia social, pedagogía basada en la comunidad y literacidades críticas. Una perspectiva social para la educación requiere que los profesores en contextos rurales y urbanos estén social y culturalmente comprometidos en abordar las necesidades de aprendizaje de inglés en las aulas. Este artículo comparte los resultados de una experiencia de cinco docentes practicantes quienes exploraron una comunidad local en un colegio rural colombiano con un grupo de 36 estudiantes de grado noveno. Las docentes implementaron un currículo basado en proyectos, con temas de la comunidad como contenido principal, para empoderar a los estudiantes y así explorar aspectos culturales y sociales de su comunidad mientras se promovía el aprendizaje de inglés como lengua extranjera. Los datos fueron recogidos durante un periodo de cuatro meses de implementación de la intervención pedagógica a través de entrevistas, observaciones y reflexiones de estudiantes y profesores. Los estudiantes desarrollaron una serie de actividades enfocadas a incrementar la conciencia acerca de su identidad, a cuestionar y mejorar realidades de su entorno mientras fortalecían habilidades para incrementar su conocimientos del inglés.&nbsp

Implementing a community-based project in an EFL rural classroom

Educational work within a social perspective has been a matter of interest and discussion of researchers and teachers whose work is framed within a pedagogy for social justice, community pedagogies, and critical literacy (Comber & Kamler, 2004). A social perspective to education requires that teachers in rural and urban contexts become socially and culturally committed to addressing the learning needs of EFL in classrooms. This article shares the outcomes of the experience of five pre-service teachers who explored a local community of a Colombian rural school with a group of 36 ninth-grade EFL students. The pre-service teachers crafted a project-based curriculum taking the community as the content that would empower the students to explore social and cultural aspects of their community while promoting their EFL learning. Data were collected during the four-month period of the pedagogical intervention through interviews, observations and students’ and teachers’ written reflections. The high school students carried out a series of tasks aimed at raising their awareness about their identity, questioning their surroundings and increasing their self-confidence while using their knowledge of English. Results suggest that a curriculum that integrates the community as content empowered students to learn and reflect upon their learning process while facilitating their participation and inquiring about their own social and cultural reality