By Tazin Aziz Chaudhury & Mahmud Hasan Khan

1. Being “critically uncritical” ByTazin Aziz Chaudhury&Mahmud Hasan Khan An analysis of the ELT textbook currently being used at the Higher Secondary level in Bangladesh

2. The high school text as discourse Discourse is defined as: “a relational totality of signifying sequences that together constitute a more or less coherent framework for what can be said and done” (Torfing 2003:300) Foucauldian definition of discourse – how a piece of discourse is constructed following certain ‘order(s) of discourse’ (Foucault, 1972)

3. Discourse: examples of backgrounding and foregrounding • “I can’t visit my friends even when I wish to, because it’s not safe for girls to move about alone in the city” (excerpt from a letter) • Suddenly/casually the issue of safety for girls is introduced • Sufficiently to raise questions • “known/shared” information • Reasons/solutions not given • Why can’t she visit her friends when she wants to? • Because she is a girl (woman ≠ man)? • ‘safe’ – key word • Who can be blamed: patriarchy, parochial worldviews (banning women going out alone)? • The government that can’t provide security?

4. The book’s aim: to teach English through the “communicative approach” The book is based on: --- the principle of learning a language by practicing it --- through the four language skills --- usually in an interactive mode --- the communicative approach to language learning underlies it --- Chairman (NCTB) National Curriculum & Textbook Board

5. Text as a social construct • The production of a text is not an act in isolation • Borrowing Foucault’s terms, a text can hardly escape the ‘order of discourse’ prevalent in a society • A text that aims at teaching English not only teaches English but also interprets the version of reality, which is familiar to the students, for whom the book was chosen.

6. Changing gender roles The topic of changing gender roles & women’s empowerment is dealt with in a “safe” manner Carefully calculated & balanced criticism is maintained “guide, protector & provider” “bread-winners” describe men “wife, mother & homemaker”, “busy at home preparing food”, “Give birth to & bring up children” “be feminine” “be soft, weak, submissive, & dependent on men for her care and protection”, “lacked competency and efficiency” define women The traditional myth is shattered with the closing line “But women have proved this otherwise through out the world including Bangladesh”

7. Watching movies in a 2nd language learning setting • In Bangladesh movie going is discouraged, looked down upon & perceived to be a mark of moral degradation • This is an unusual topic in a HSC textbook; it is dealt with positively • A young girl writes that she loves watching films & dreams of film stars & this is hampering her studies • The advice given is sensible & understanding • The message conveyed, is • this is normal for teenagers • it should be dealt with understandingly & gently • not by harshness & condemnation • The writer calculatedly encourages students to watch films • to improve their English? • to change the negative mindset towards films? • Hidden Curriculum?

8. Gender discrimination • “If you don’t have a son this time I am going to marry again” • “You are getting married this month. You can continue studies if your in-laws wish” • “Where is the dowry your father promised? Go get it or don’t come back” • “Women in our society ---considered subservient to men”. • “Their opinion unnecessary in issues ---- education of their children --- finance and property --- second marriage of their husbands” • “Beaten up by the husbands” “divorce, or abandonment by their husbands”

9. Redistributing the role of women in traditional / rural setting • “Working women-a great stride ahead” • “conspicuous change” • “women have always worked within the household --- this – is not counted as ‘work’” • “due to necessity – urge to establish an individual identity or both” • “many women -- entering – work force” • “not only educated women – but women—with little or no education” • “does not mean that life is any easier ---- it is more difficult” • “must still fulfill – traditional roles of wife, mother and homemaker” • “they must compete with men – to prove their worth – in order to survive.” • An attempt to enact social change?

10. Social awareness : gender roles • “-- gender discrimination in Bangladesh begins at birth --” • “ – girls are born to an unwelcome world - they are married off ” • “ – keep - best food – for the male – eat less – not raise their voice – not go out –without - being escorted by –male ” • “—develop - self-effacement, self-denial & inferiority ” • “--marriage being such an unequal contract -- an institution of inhuman tortures – demands such as those for a male child, for dowry --” • “ girls cannot receive the full benefits of education mainly because of : • Religious misinterpretation & social strictures discourage—prevent girls from going to schools • Parents –fear for their girls’ safety • Early marriage & child birth • Expenditure for sending girls to school is considered a wastage • Parents –main responsibility – prepare - daughter for marriage & childbearing –not for her own individual life ” • Can be classified as ‘safe’ CDA but in Bangladesh it is far from ‘safe’

11. Hidden curriculum : interpretations If the notion of the hidden curriculum is to become meaningful it will have to be used to analyze not only the social relations of the classroom & school, but also the structural “silences” & ideological messages that shape the form & content of school knowledge (Giroux, 2001:61)

12. Education: a critical perspective • “a reform of – education involves a reform of educators – this is a political task whose purpose is to make educators – more effective agents for transforming the wider society. It also points to & increases the possibility for helping students develop a greater social awareness as well as a concern for social action”(Giroux,2001:196) • The power of a specific class to impose & distribute in society specific meanings, message systems, and social practices in order to “lay the psychological & moral foundations for the economic & political system they control” (Dreitzel,1977 cited in Giroux, 2001:196)

13. School: reproduction of society • Schools did more than teach students how “to read, write, compute, & master the content of -- subjects” (Mehan, 1980) • Schools came to be seen as social sites with a dual curriculum – one overt &formal, the other hidden & informal (Giroux, 2001:45) • These important insights about the schooling process emerged: Schools cannot be analyzed as institutions removed from the socio-economic context in which they’re situated Schools are political sites involved in the construction & control of discourse, meaning & subjectivities The commonsense values & beliefs that guide & structure classroom practice are not a priori universals, but social constructions based on specific normative & political assumptions.(Giroux, 2001:46)

14. Schools : sites of social reproduction • “schools—now seen as political institutions, inextricably linked to issues of power & control in the dominant society. Questions about efficiency & smoothness in operation – supplemented with enquiries about the way in which the schools mediate & legitimate the social & cultural reproduction of class, racial & gender relations in the dominant society (Giroux & Penna 1979 cited in Giroux 2001:46)”

15. School as political site • Politicization of educational institutions & impact on students & education is highlighted: “Moreover, many educational institutions in Bangladesh are troubled with politics and violence. Sometimes institutions are closed down to avoid clashes between rival groups of students. Such closures badly affect academic progress”. • A syntactic analysis reveals the frequent use of copula verbs (are … are) which indicates high factuality • They in fact construct a reality (in language) through such syntactic formations • They dare to verbalize concerns which are equally shared most people of the country

16. Freirean view of radical literacy theory: an interpretation • The relationship between teachers & students would have to be mediated by forms of discourse & content rooted in the cultural capital of the learners & made problematic through modes of critical dialogue • In a pedagogical sense, the words settings & images contained in school materials have to be reevaluated so that such materials can be seen as bearers of certain meanings & views • --analyzed as something that students can construct & appropriate in order to understand themselves as agents who can engage in the task of social & political reconstruction • They must learn to speak with their own voices, draw from their own experiences & produce classroom ‘texts’ that reflect the social & political issues important to their lives – Freire’s Radical Literacy Theory (cited in Giroux, 2001:228)

17. The hidden curriculum: a redefinition It is important to use the concept of the hidden curriculum as a heuristic tool to uncover the assumptions & interests that go unexamined in the discourse & materials that shape school experience --- it is crucial that the notion of the hidden curriculum also be linked to a notion of liberation grounded in the values of personal dignity & social justice – the essence of the hidden curriculum would be established in the development of a theory of schooling concerned with both reproduction and transformation (Giroux, 2001:61)

18. Promoting Micro-credit – Grameen Bank’s success story “Bangladesh has a long history of micro-credit finance, with internationally acclaimed organizations – the Grameen Bank, providing credit to the poor, particularly women” • “micro-credit – had a positive effect on socio-economic variables including children’s schooling, nutrition & family planning ” • “households rose above the poverty line” The role of micro-credit in poverty alleviation & rural development is highly lauded Political & Economic agenda? Politicization of culture?

19. Rationalizing NGO activities • ‘she is now able to add to her family income. If they continue doing their work Sakhina & other women working with her will surely see happier days with the new employment opportunities created by the ILO project’ • ‘I had nothing of my own before, but now I have so much – it has been possible through my hard labour – the credit also goes to NHC of course’ (Natore Horticulture Centre) • Positive contribution of NGO’s to Rural development is highlighted • Political/Economic agenda? • Making NGO activity acceptable/sustainable?

20. Globalization : a reality check • ‘In the name of help & co-operation capitalist countries are exploiting the cheap labour available in poorer countries’ • ‘This--paves the way for lasting poverty so that the capitalists can continue to have a pool of cheap labour to draw from’ • ‘the exploited & impoverished workers of the developing countries are no match for a globalizing powerful capitalism’ • Criticism is direct & harsh

21. Teaching for tomorrow • Our youth “ought to be educated not for the present but for a better future condition of the human race, that is for the idea of humanity” (Marcuse, 1972)

22. Thank you