ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Pedagogies of discomfort in the world language classroom: Ethical tensions and considerations for educators
Melina Porto,
Michalinos Zembylas,
Corresponding Author
Melina Porto
Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales [Institute of Research in the Social Sciences and the Humanities], Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación [School of Humanities and Sciences of Education], Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET (National Research Council), La Plata, Argentina
Correspondence
Melina Porto, Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales [Institute of Research in the Social Sciences and the Humanities], Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación [School of Humanities and Sciences of Education], Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET (National Research Council), La Plata, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorMichalinos Zembylas
Programme of Educational Studies, Open University of Cyprus, Latsia, Cyprus
Search for more papers by this authorMelina Porto,
Michalinos Zembylas,
Corresponding Author
Melina Porto
Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales [Institute of Research in the Social Sciences and the Humanities], Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación [School of Humanities and Sciences of Education], Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET (National Research Council), La Plata, Argentina
Correspondence
Melina Porto, Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales [Institute of Research in the Social Sciences and the Humanities], Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación [School of Humanities and Sciences of Education], Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET (National Research Council), La Plata, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorMichalinos Zembylas
Programme of Educational Studies, Open University of Cyprus, Latsia, Cyprus
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The purpose of this article is to examine the ethical tensions and considerations that arise in the world language classroom from using pedagogies of discomfort. Although pedagogies of discomfort have mostly been seen through a positive lens in the literature for engaging students with difficult issues in the classroom, there are ethical concerns, particularly in relation to the harm that students might experience. To illustrate these ethical concerns and their implications in the world language classroom, we draw on data from a number of projects in which pedagogies of discomfort have been used in university classrooms. The analysis of examples shows that while some sort of ethical violence is inevitable, there are pedagogical ways to minimize the harm on students. The article concludes by raising further ethical and pedagogical questions for exploration in the context of using pedagogies of discomfort in the world language classroom.
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