When in doubt, art it out! Employing feminist art to enhance transformative engagement in EFL classrooms

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26378/rnlael1836564

Keywords:

Critical ELT, Feminism, Motivation, Social justice, Transformative learning

Abstract

In this article, integrating a feminist point of view towards art into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, this project aimed to deepen learning through critical engagement with social issues and celebrate female artistic figures, enhancing students’ critical consciousness. Implemented in a Valencian artistic baccalaureate, this multimodal approach proved to significantly boost student motivation and engagement by adopting arts from a feminist viewpoint. Despite its limited timeframe and sample size, the project showcases the impactful role of arts in fostering inclusivity and addressing gender inequality in education. It advocates for an academic shift towards transformative learning and curriculum innovation, emphasizing the importance of content selection to prepare students for global challenges. LITGENDI exemplifies art's power in revitalizing EFL multimodal education and promoting transformative student engagement.

Author Biography

Margarida Castellano Sanz, Universitat de València

Assistant professor in the Department of Language and Literature Didactics at the University of Valencia, where her academic focus is on classroom multimodality, language learning through literature, and identity constructions. She holds degrees in English and Catalan Philology and a PhD in Philology. Her doctoral research explored the construction of migrant identities in literature, a study supported by a scholarship that allowed her to pursue advanced studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In 2017, she received the Premi Octubre Joan Fuster d'Assaig for her work Les altres catalanes, which addresses memory, identity, and autobiography in immigration literature.

She has worked as a high school teacher in the Valencian public system and has held leadership positions as the director of a plurilingualism training center for teachers and as the general director of educational innovation and planning. She is an active member of various research groups and has participated in research stays at prestigious institutions such as Queen Mary University of London and the University of Reading. Her recent publications include studies on the use of digital texts to promote multiliteracies and works on gender and interculturality in adult education.

As a civil servant in the secondary school teaching corps since 2009, she has also served as director of the Center for Training, Innovation, and Resources for Teaching (CEFIRE) specializing in Plurilingualism (2017-2019) and as Director General of Educational Innovation and Organization for the Valencian Government (2019-2021). She has been accredited as AD and CD since 2021. Her current research lines are related to the use of multimodality in the classroom for additional languages, language learning through literature, multiliteracies, and visual literacy. She belongs to the research groups Lit(T)erart (Multimodal Education and Multiliteracy through Literature, Art, Foreign Languages, and Learning Technologies), ELCIS (Literary Education, Linguistics, Culture, and Society), and to the thematic network LIJMI (Children's and Youth Literatures of the Iberian and Ibero-American Framework). She is also co-director of the Carme Miquel Educational Transformation Chair. She has conducted various research stays at Queen Mary University of London, the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing at the University of Reading (UK), or the University of Aveiro (Portugal).

Among her most recent publications are "Trabajar los ODS en el aula de personas adultas mediante textos memorialísticos: género, interculturalidad y multimodalidad" (Working on the SDGs in the adult classroom through memoir texts: gender, interculturality, and multimodality) in Aula Abierta, 52(3), 229–236. https://doi.org/10.17811/rifie.52.3.2023.229-236 and "Learning by Design through born-digital texts in EFL: an approach to foster students' multiliteracies" in J. M. Antolí-Martínez (Ed.), Challenges of the educational system in contemporary society, IGI Global, 63-82. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-8156-1.ch005.

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Published

2024-04-12

How to Cite

Castellano Sanz, M. (2024). When in doubt, art it out! Employing feminist art to enhance transformative engagement in EFL classrooms. Nebrija Journal of Applied Linguistics to Language Teaching, 18(36), 108–127. https://doi.org/10.26378/rnlael1836564

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 36 (2024): Spring 24

Section

Miscellanea

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Magarida Castellano Sanz

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