Language teacher education in the age of ambiguity: Educating responsive meaning makers in the world

Abstract

Language learning happens across many sites of social interactions; those scarred by injustices, conflicts and structural violence as well as those characterized by conviviality of human encounters and acts of welcoming the stranger. This article outlines new directions for language teacher education in this age of ambiguity. I propose that its core task should involve educating ‘responsive meaning makers in the world’, that is, teachers who are critically conscious of the politics of their social worlds while, at the same time, committed to growing their capacity to respond to the particular moment of an educational encounter. I suggest that creative arts may play a crucial part in preparing language teachers for such re-envisioned roles.