Critical, "pero no mucho": problematizing the approach to identity issues in a high school English textbook’s unit

Abstract

In this study we problematize the understanding of what is considered critical by the authors of a first grade of high school textbook approved by a committee for the distribution in Brazil. We also point ways of filling the gaps in said document. In line with a pedagogical approach towards queer literacy (LIN, 2014) and racial critical literacy (FERREIRA, 2015a, 2015b), we claim anti-racist problematizing practices (PENNYCOOK, 2004) must be included in language teachers’ education as well as in learning materials. Thus, our perspective on what is critical wishes to motivate questioning and “queering” (LIN, 2014) naturalized discourses considering relations of access, power, power, difference, inequality and resistance (PENNYCOOK, 2004). We analyzed the book’s unit named "Who am I?" which focuses on matters of identity, as well as the theoretical framework and guidelines for teachers. Our considerations point to the need for a curriculum that will fill in the gaps in learning materials for schools so teachers may  go beyond the suggestions to actually promote anti-racist pedagogical practices, through reflecting about identity processes in an intersectional and decolonial perspective. In this case, and possibly others, the guidelines for teachers in the set do not problematize those aspects, which shows lack of questioning for a transformative agenda.