New project: Decolonizing English lessons and promoting diversity!

New project: Decolonizing English lessons and promoting diversity!

The Karlsruhe University of Education (PHKA) and the University of Cape Coast in Ghana have launched an innovative project that aims to decolonize English teaching in Germany and Ghana. Under the title “Questioning your own knowledge: Decolonizing training for English teachers”, the project aims to question and reform traditional educational approaches to foreign language didactics. The initiative is dedicated to the critical examination of language and the power structures associated with it.

As part of the project, Ghanaian-German student tandems are developing teaching materials and concepts that will be tested at several schools in Germany by mid-July 2025. This includes, among others, the Sophie-Scholl-Realschule Karlsruhe and the school at Stromberg in Illingen-Maulbronn. From September 2025, the concepts developed can then be used in several primary schools in Ghana. The main focus is on the decolonial opening of teaching and the integration of decolonial knowledge production.

Thematic focuses of the project

The project leader Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin at the PHKA emphasizes the importance of critically reflecting on linguistic power structures. Teacher Samira El Bakezzi-Lang also emphasizes the need to make German colonial history visible in the context of teaching. An important component is also the promotion of diversity in the classroom and the development of a non-discriminatory, racism-critical educational approach. The teaching materials and concepts developed result from the seminar “Decoloniality in Practice”.

A central aim of the project is to question the dominant perspective of the English language, which often conveys Eurocentric meanings. The criticism of Baden-Württemberg's current education plan relates to its focus on Great Britain, the USA and other English-speaking countries as exclusive target cultures. The project is funded by Engagement Global gGmbH as part of the “Work and Study Stays” (ASA) program.

Symbolic competence and approaches critical of racism

The importance of symbolic competence and power-critical language awareness is increasingly emphasized in literature and cultural didactics. This project takes up current developments in order to open up a discourse about Eurocentric thought patterns. The aim is to give students a comprehensive understanding of the social impact of language, especially with regard to social inequalities.

There is a great need for research into the practical implementation of these approaches. A long-term network is dedicated to empirical research into competence development, particularly in relation to children's and young people's literature on topics relevant to racism. This discussion comes at a time when the confrontation with racism in pedagogy is becoming more urgent, because the term itself has an eventful history in Germany, as studies show.

The development of the term “racism” and the associated research are closely linked to German history. The term was first used by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1933 and only found wider application in German discourse from the late 1960s. While racism research has long viewed racist phenomena as external phenomena, there is now growing interest in their roots in German society and in the works of classical philosophers such as Kant and Hegel.

In view of the current debates about racism-related topics, the project at PHKA and the University of Cape Coast is seen as a pioneer for a necessary revolution in language didactics. It brings students into a dialogue about language, power and identity and opens up new perspectives for English teaching.

The project, which is a collaboration between the Karlsruhe University of Education and the University of Potsdam is a significant step towards a more inclusive and critical approach to education in a global context. In addition, it illuminates the complex history and theory of racism in one article Academia.edu is discussed in detail.