Costantino, Anna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8459-8561 (2023) Sustainability and practitioner research: fostering embodied knowledge and inclusivity in language pedagogy. In: International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) 2023. 20th Anniversary World Congress: "Diversity and social cohesion in a globalized world: Moving towards more engaged language studies", 17th - 21st July, 2023, Lyon, France.

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Abstract

Sustainability is a priority among institutions and countries committed to implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2018). These goals are central to the agendas of higher education institutions, as global performance tables such as Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings, assess universities’ impact on society annually through a set of performance metrics. As universities seek evidence of how teaching and research contribute to the SDGs, academics and educators are encouraged to integrate them as critical components of a 21st-century curriculum. In language syllabi, sustainability can be addressed through discussions of environmental issues. The theme cuts across several SDGs, as connections can be made with the broader goal of quality education. Environmental issues can be explored by debating and building an appropriate lexicon for the subject. However, a challenge remains: to what extent does developing the appropriate linguistic abilities do justice to broader educational aims that transcend the here and now of a language lesson and aspire to have “an enduring influence on the future attitudes and personalities of their students” (Maley & Peachey, 2017, p. 7)? This challenge calls for modalities of designing classroom materials that place learners centre stage as meaning-makers and designers of their own futures (Serafini & Gee, 2017). This paper reports on how I took on the challenge of going beyond the contingent language lesson in my pedagogical practice. By adopting an inquiry-based approach to materials development, specifically through implementing Exploratory Practice (Allwright & Hanks, 2009), I sought to build an embodied understanding of environmental issues. The paper introduces Exploratory Practice and its epistemological and ethical framework, which places sustainability at the core of its methodology. It then illustrates how classroom materials emerged synergistically through the entanglement of our (my students’ and my own) cross-puzzling and investigations around the idea of the Anthropocene. The paper also outlines how this shared understanding navigated both personal and institutional challenges: from top-down pressures for linear implementation to bottom-up attempts at reframing my own embodied understanding of the Anthropocene, an understanding enhanced by my participation in an educational project (Costantino, 2022). The aim was to prevent this understanding from prevaricating, so that it could mesh with my learners’ experiences and, ultimately, become a shared one. The final considerations offer reflections on the extent to which an inquiry-based approach to classroom materials can respond to the global challenges of the SDGs, alongside suggestions for language teachers to develop sustainably and inclusively through practitioner research and communities of practice.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Anthropocene, language teaching, embodied learning, exploratory practice, language education and sustainability, materials development, practitioner research, sustainable development goals
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2025 10:19
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50842

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