Page 80 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
to create a learning culture based on a dialogic approach rather than just "authentic" communicative activities.
Consequently, the first question one may ask oneself when thinking about the design of educational materials for language education is whether the educational content should be regarded as the foundation of language education or as a driver for foreign language use. This is a question about the vision of education other than one based on knowledge that has no meaning for learners. T. Szkudlarek (2016, pp. 74–93) wrote about the consequences of depriving learners of a sense of empowerment as a result of making knowledge meaningless. According to him, this may contribute to the production of ignorance strategies in learners. This is because the sense of agency, the search for meaning, is the primary source of human motivation (Chrobak, 2016, p. 633). Education should therefore reflect the real aspects of everyday life, including both social and global problems, and enable learners and teachers to face these problems141 by developing didactic equality solutions concerning both the classroom and society (Stańczyk, 2019, p. 44). Language education should therefore emphasise meaningful learning based on personal experience, social interaction, and reflection (Tochon, 2010). Teaching and learning should be regarded as social processes in which learners are active co- constructors of knowledge with teachers, linking these processes to their prior knowledge and experience (Jacobs& Farrell 2001). The emphasis should therefore be on discourse and on engaging learners in communicative activities with their peers (experiential learning) on matters of common interest, with a focus on meaning-making. Imposing the language that we think a person should learn and that should be meaningful to them often results in a shallow learning experience because authentic engagement in the learning process is missing. Deeper learning encourages different outcomes in the classroom that cannot be fully predicted (Tochon, 2010). This can be characterised as a deeper understanding, which can be achieved when the focus is on the meaning and relevance of the content and tasks chosen and designed by the learners, so that the learner finds the meaning of the learning and not just its purpose. Paluch (2021, p. 318)142 writes about this, concluding that teaching gains special meaning when we deprive it of its instrumental purpose. It is also emphasised by Śliwerski (2021)143, who writes that the process of necessary changes in education may be successful only when those involved in it are able to shape it responsibly. It is also mentioned by Hattie (2012, p. 96) when she says that the aim of education should be the acquisition by learners of the ability to independently learn content and understand meanings in order to self-direct their own learning.
In a culture of genuine learning and trust, learners should be able to choose how they want to learn. Classes can proceed in many different ways, and don't have to follow pre-planned structures that mask inauthentic and ineffective learning processes. Learners can become creators of their own learning and to some extent their own teachers. Teachers in their roles are often afraid to give up power to the learners. On the other hand, when we shift the burden off the shoulders of teachers and allow learners to become their own teachers, as Professor Do Coyle of the University of Edinburgh also spoke about at a conference in Cordoba in October 2020144 in the context of bilingual and multilingual education, then teachers will also become learners themselves. I believe that through being dialogical, learners
141 E.g., global environmental catastrophe and social inequality.
142 In Śliwerski & Paluch, 2021.
143 Ibid.., p. 221.
144 6th International Conference on Bilingual Education. 28–30 October 2020, University of Cordoba.
65