The Struggle for Legitimacy

Indigenized Englishes in Settler Schools

By (author) Andrea Sterzuk

Publication date:

11 November 2011

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

210x148mm
6x8"

ISBN-13: 9781847695185

This book examines the experiences of Indigenous students in settler schools by using the example of a Canadian school as a window into the relationship between colonial discourses, indigenized English language varieties, racialized identities, and the biased educational practices of settler schools. The book aims to develop awareness of the colonial past and its present-day influences on settler schools; to take a close look at the effects of present-day settler nationalism on constructions of race and language in settler schools; and to explore what could be done differently to lessen present-day and future educational inequity. The book will have great appeal to education students, educators, teacher educators, and educational researchers in settler contexts.

Drawing on postcolonial and critical race theory, Sterzuk moves us beyond the typical linguistic and pedagogical responses to English language variation. In a cogently written, accessible style, she argues for an honest reckoning with colonial discourses and racialized identities to confront biased educational practices. A tour de force in anti-racist education.