CES5E1-From critical education to decolonial praxis

In today’s podcast, we have Yecid Ortega from the University of Toronto. He sees himself as a citizen of the world, and his work certainly reflects an international perspective to education and research. With a very marginalized background, he studied primary and secondary education in public schools and got interested in learning languages to understand the world. He tells the story of his life from poverty in Colombia, to working in the USA and to becoming a Canadian citizen. From a very young age, Yecid knew education was key to engage with communities and move socially. He noticed the idea of English as a symbol of power and has worked vigorously to dismantle it through critical education. His epistemological vision is engaged in a future of decolonial praxis in which educators, researchers and stakeholders work towards a better future for humanity.

*Biography:

Yecid Ortega is a Ph.D. candidate in the program of Language and Literacies Education (LLE) and the specialization program in Comparative International, and Development Education (CIDE) at OISE – University of Toronto, Canada. His general research interests are within decolonial critical ethnographic and case study approaches to research. Yecid explores how globalization, capitalism and neoliberalism influence language policy decision-making processes and their effects on classroom practices and students’ lived experiences.

*Cite this podcast (APA):

Ortega, Y. (Producer). (2021, January 13). CES5E1 – From critical education to decolonial praxis. https://soundcloud.com/chasingencounters/ces5e1-from-critical-education-to-decolonial-praxis

*Sources:

Ortega, Y. (2020). “Rebeldes en acción”: A case study in English teaching in a marginalized Colombian high school. In L. M. Berger (Ed.), Social justice and international education: Research, practice, and perspectives (pp. 111–134). NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
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Coelho, D & Ortega, Y. (2020). Pluralistic approaches in early language education: shifting paradigms in language didactics. In S.M. Lau & S. Van Viegen (Eds.), Plurilingual pedagogies: Critical and creative endeavors for equitable language in education. (pp. 145-160).Taylor Francis.
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Ortega, Y. (2019). “Teacher, ¿Puedo hablar en Español?” A reflection on plurilingualism and translanguaging