Speaker
Description
Despite increasing diversity in Japan’s ELT sector, equity and inclusion remain limited. English teachers of colour from both Global South and Global North communities often face barriers to professional legitimacy. Job discrimination, the lack of cultural representation in ELT materials, coupled with stereotyping and the challenge of navigating hypervisibility / invisibility further undermines their sense of respect, creativity, and empowerment. Drawing on my research on language teacher identity, decoloniality, raciolinguistics, Global/Unequal Englishes (Glasgow, 2023, 2024) and the use of real-life examples, I offer a strategic blueprint to these challenges. Respect involves contesting hegemonic perceptions of English, nation, identity, and language to ensure equal recognition of the backgrounds and origins of teachers often not viewed as “legitimate”. Creativity allows teachers to resist ELT norms, create spaces for implementing intercultural pedagogies, and advocate for systemic change. Empowerment involves teachers' active displays of self-efficacy, autonomy, and ownership of one’s professional trajectory throughout their careers. This can happen through commanding respect and implementing creative ways to leverage professional knowledge, decolonize ELT, build support networks, and amplify marginalized voices in language education. By foregrounding these three interconnected dimensions, this blueprint provides practical strategies for navigating ELT’s structural constraints in Japan while fostering a more inclusive educational landscape. Though this talk centers on teachers of colour, its principles clearly apply to all educators striving for professional legitimacy and equity in the field.
