Adriana Ramirez – Decolonizing our Language Classrooms – First Steps in the Process

Education is a political act. We are either in favour of the status quo or against it. What are we doing as world language educators to disrupt those practices that perpetuate inequalities? How can we make our language classes more inclusive while respecting interculturality?
In this workshop we will talk about what decolonizing means and how this could look like in our language classes. We will talk about history, colonization, today’s ways of colonization, and ways to start a decolonizing process in our language classes.

Biography

Adriana Ramírez is a Spanish teacher, author, and teacher trainer. She is constantly coaching other teachers and presenting workshops in Canada, the US and Europe. She also holds a double major in Psychology, a degree in Clinical Psychology and a master’s degree in Education. She has a big passion for sharing with the world the beauty of her country and her people. You can see this love through all her published novels. A big advocate of the #OwnVoices movement, Adriana strongly believes that those who come from traditionally oppressed and colonized countries and territories, must reclaim their right to tell their own stories and build their own narratives. Originally from Colombia, she actively works on recuperating the stories and the narrative that are part of her roots and her heritage.