Decolonizing English: A Proposal for Implementing Alternative Ways of Knowing and Being in Education

Autor/in	Meighan, Paul J.
Titel	Decolonizing English: A Proposal for Implementing Alternative Ways of Knowing and Being in Education
Quelle	In: Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 15 (2021) 2, S.77-83 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Meighan, Paul J.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1559-5692
DOI	10.1080/15595692.2020.1783228
Schlagwörter	English; Language Usage; World Views; Foreign Policy; Indigenous Knowledge; Ecology + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? English language; Englisch; Sprachgebrauch; World view; Weltanschauung; Außenpolitik; Ökologie
Abstract	There is a need to decolonize English in order to reframe our relationships with fellow beings and our environment. English can frame water or oil as infinite, uncountable nouns, a tree as an inanimate, unconscious being, traditional and respected territories as wasteland, and animals as wildlife. With the current climate crisis, we know that these categorizations fall short and can normalize environmental racism and injustice. A more equitable and sustainable way to use language would be to question the worldview or belief system that informs "ecologically destructive" assumptions and perceptions. The English language also carries a colonial and assimilationist legacy. In many cases, this colonial history is omitted in our history books or plainly avoided in many forms of curriculum. The danger of ignoring this legacy resides in the human exceptionalism, or "epistemological error", which dominates the current mainstream Western worldview, colonial education, and the English language. This paper proposes decolonizing the English language and exemplifies how we can do this and why we should learn from and implement ecocentric worldviews, such as those which are Indigenous. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01