How To Write Inclusive Materials

By Tyson Seburn

What do ‘inclusive materials’ look like in the context of ELT? This practical and informative book examines four main considerations (identity, representation, media and voice) before discussing the two basic approaches to writing inclusive materials: usualization and disruption. Tyson leads you to understand the differences between these two approaches by digging into their defining aspects and providing examples, reflective tasks and a rich resource of useful links for further reading. By the end of this book, you will have developed a principled approach to creating inclusive materials as well as an ‘inclusive lens’ to critique published materials.
This book aims to:
- define what it means to be inclusive in the context of marginalized groups and why this is important for everyone.
- raise awareness of factors that impact our ability to create inclusive ELT materials authentically.
- establish guidelines and approaches for materials writers.
This book forms part of the ELT Teacher 2 Writer training course. The course is designed to help you write better ELT materials, either for publication, or simply to improve the quality of your self-produced classroom materials.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ELT Teacher 2 Writer
• Release date: Jun 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005703875

Tyson Seburn

Tyson Seburn leads and teaches the Critical Reading & Writing course to international undergraduate students in the International Foundation Program at the University of Toronto in Canada. His focus is on teaching English for academic purposes (EAP) and integrating social media into teacher development. He is heavily involved in professional development and has served many roles in ELT associations, including TESL Toronto, TESL Canada, and IATEFL Teacher Development SIG. Tyson founded #EAPchat/#tleap (http://eapchat.wordpress.com | http://bit.do/tleap). Primary Interests: teacher development and teacher identity Secondary Interests: critical reading, academic writing, action research

Book preview

HOW TO WRITE

INCLUSIVE MATERIALS

Tyson Seburn

with contributions from

Akemi Iwasa

Zarina Subhan

Amanda Hawthorne

TRAINING COURSE FOR ELT WRITERS

Other titles by ELT Teacher 2 Writer

A Lexicon For ELT Professionals

How ELT Publishing Works

How To Adapt Authentic Materials

How To Plan A Book

How To Write And Deliver Talks

How To Write Audio and Video Scripts ⸕

How To Write Business English Materials †

How To Write CLIL Materials

How To Write Corporate Training Materials †

How To Write Critical Thinking Activities ⸕

How To Write EAP Materials †

How To Write ESOL Materials †

How To Write ESP Materials †

How To Write Exam Preparation Materials

How To Write Film And Video Activities

How To Write Online Materials

How To Write Graded Readers

How To Write Grammar Presentations And Practice

How To Write Primary Materials

How To Write Pronunciation Activities

How To Write Reading And Listening Activities ⸕

How To Write Secondary Materials

How To Write Speaking Activities ⸕

How To Write Teacher’s Books

How To Write Vocabulary Presentations And Practice ⸕

How To Write Worksheets

How To Write Writing Activities ⸕

Our paperback compendiums

⸕ How To Write Excellent ELT Materials: The Skills Series

This book contains the six titles marked ⸕ above.

† How To Write Excellent ELT Materials: The ESP Series

This book contains the five titles marked † above.

For further information, see eltteacher2writer.co.uk

How To Write Inclusive Materials

By Tyson Seburn

© 2021 ELT Teacher 2 Writer

www.eltteacher2writer.co.uk

I would like to sincerely applaud all the scholars, practitioners, and learners who are devoted to improving the way we teach and support each other within the English language teaching context.

With regard to concepts within this book, I am listening to and continuously learning from my online community, including Ashley Moore, Kelly Wright, Joshua Paiz, Cynthia Nelson, Laila El-Metoui, JPB Gerald, Taylor Veigga, James Taylor, Ilá Coimbra, Parisa Mehran, Varinder Unlu, Anne Margaret Smith, Scott Stillar, Alice Kim, Vijay Ramjattan, Sharon Jarvis, Silvana Accardo, Saurabh Anand, Angelos Bollas, Adam Scott, Liz Joiner, Helen Slee, Sergio Durand, Heloisa Duarte, Madison Butler, Peter J Fullager, Lottie Galpin, and frankly many, many others.

Extra special gratitude goes to three people specifically: Akemi Iwasa, Zarina Subhan, and Amanda Hawthorne. Your feedback on this book and contributions to it are invaluable. Thank you so much!

Contents

About The Author

Aims

1 Inclusion: What Does It Mean In A Materials Context?

2 Considerations: Impact Of Identity

3 Considerations: Representation

4 Considerations: Media

5 Considerations: Voice And Language

6 A Usualization Approach

7 A Disruptive Approach

8 Bringing Everything Together To A New Beginning

Commentaries On Tasks

Glossary

About The Author

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen, but I knew it would. I loved learning throughout my upbringing and found that I had an interest in explaining things to others in ways that perhaps changed their perceptions or made complex topics easier to grasp, using concepts and vocabulary they were familiar with.

After I finished my undergraduate studies in Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, aside from travel and broaden my understanding of the world and its different peoples. I taught basic computing skills for a local college, but found it wasn’t my main area of interest. Like many at the time, I was intrigued by the idea of working abroad in a teaching position and thus my English Language Teaching (ELT) career began in Seoul, Korea in early 1998.

It was at this time that I started to recognize the privilege I was afforded by being a white, English-speaking male. I started to notice the power dynamics at play within the language teaching field and the hidden and not-so-hidden racism and LGBTQphobia that surrounded our industry, my chosen profession. This was also evident in the attitudes of, and interactions between, many teachers and learners and in the materials we had to use. However, as I benefited from some aspects of this and also felt powerless to change them given my youth and inexperience, I made little attempt to challenge it.

After returning to Toronto in 2003, I began teaching in the private language school system here, where I was given the opportunity to create my own materials from scratch for learners of diverse cultural and religious identities, sexuality, ability and age. While I wouldn’t say my pedagogical underpinnings for materials creation were top-notch at the time, it’s then that I went through an enormous learning curve with regard to how materials can involve far more than simply language-related tasks. At the same time, it became more and more apparent to me that even these tasks (and the language that went with them) could have both positive and negative messaging for the learners in these classrooms. It became obvious that most published materials we used included heteronormative, European-centric value systems embedded within them.

At this time, I also saw how racism and invisibility impacted my Korean partner. I grew up believing that Canada was a multicultural paradise, where equality ruled and the racism that was prevalent in the news from other countries did not exist. Yet I was smacked in the face by a different reality: the lack of work opportunities for a fully trained and experienced immigrant graphic designer, society’s narrow and intransigent view of how English should be spoken, and yes, the microaggressions and more blatant racist practices that are woven into actions and policies white people don’t even consider, but that my partner experienced and continues to experience. I also became more aware of Canada’s own history and present. When I was young, Canada’s shameful history with our Indigenous peoples was glossed over if even mentioned at all, and this became very apparent in my newfound research into racism. Not only did these things make me aware, but they also added to my understanding of how marginalized groups are treated, both directly and subtly.

Moving into English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching in 2010 at a local university offered me more hands-on experience with materials design as we did not use published materials. I took the roles of Lead Instructor for a university-level Critical Reading and Writing course and Assistant Director overseeing the curricular coherence of that and four other courses. Because I not only made materials from scratch for my own classes, but also for several teaching teams to use, these roles fueled my passion for meaningful materials creation. I also recognized how essential teacher development is – not just for in-class practice, but also for designing materials that contain meaningful content for learners that aren’t just an exercise in checking boxes.

It was during this time that I also learned some valuable lessons myself: we are models for learners, especially those significantly younger than us; we have a responsibility to only use meaningful, relatable content for our learners; most importantly, the underlying purpose of education is not to fill up empty heads with knowledge we have access to, but actually facilitate our learners’ ability to question why things are the way they are and give them the confidence through language to change what needs to be changed.

It took me to well into my 30s before I fully acknowledged my own power to use this privilege for the benefit of my learners. My own LGBTQIA identity became more prominent in this regard and I realized that unless I used the privilege and power afforded me to make a difference for others, I could not expect that of anyone else. And so, my interest in inclusive and critical pedagogies – especially with regard to accurate and respectful representation of marginalized individuals within ELT materials – has driven me to work towards chipping away at the status quo in our profession as much as I can.

Aims

The aims of this book are mainly:

1. to define what it means to be inclusive in the context of marginalized groups and why this is important for everyone involved.

2. to raise awareness of factors that impact our abilities as materials writers to create inclusive ELT materials authentically.

3. to establish guidelines and approaches for materials writers to incorporate an appropriately diverse and meaningful spectrum of representation.

1 Inclusion: What Does It Mean In A Materials Context?

This book is a training course about what inclusive practices involve and how they can be applied to writing materials, so let’s begin right away with a task about both of these aspects!

Task 1

Take a look at the nearest ELT materials to you. These may be a coursebook or a one-off lesson you have made. Look at the images and texts in the materials. Do the characters appear:

- happy or sad?

- bored or engaged?

- young or old?

- aspirational or unmotivated?

- affluent, middle class, or poor?

- frustrated or easy-going?

What gender variety is there?

What races are represented?

What age groups are represented?

Do the images and texts show a variety of different relationship types?

Is there a range of body types?

Do you see yourself in these characters and their narratives?

Do you see your learners (or those who probably use these materials)?

You can read a commentary on this task here.

When we talk about inclusion, there can be multiple ideas with regard to what it means in an ELT context depending on which stake you have. Are you a learner? Are you a parent? Are you a teacher? Are you a programme director? Are you a materials writer? Are you a publisher? Each of these positions – and probably variants of each in different contexts – likely agrees on a common view on what it means to be inclusive, while also varying widely on what this means on a practical level. Different factors (e.g., workplace power dynamics, autonomy, identities, resources, knowledge/skills, and experiences) impact our specific perspectives on how to create inclusion in ELT educational spaces. We may feel completely powerless to implement inclusive practices as we define them or we may not agree on what the specific practices may be. Through this book, we will define inclusion so that we can form a framework for our practices.

The fact that you’ve got this book means that you recognize inclusion is important and that in some way, we are not doing the best job at it. This is a really good sign, and so before we go any further, quickly jot down ways in which you feel ELT isn’t currently being the most inclusive version of itself.

Depending on what your primary role is in our profession, there are likely a myriad of ways in which you and other readers may be able to contribute to improving inclusive practices within our teaching and learning spaces. No one person, approach, or activity change will do it alone. We must all work together. Whether you’re primarily a teacher, a trainer, a director of studies, a publisher employee, a trustee in a teacher association, or a materials writer, different guides, policies, and ultimately effort must all complement each other for effective inclusive practice. Working through this book will hopefully empower you to effect change wherever your power lies.

I aim to connect most directly with those of you who write and design materials for use in ELT classrooms. In the most ideal scenario, you are not limited by a publisher’s restrictive guidelines. Perhaps you have no publisher, but are a teacher who creates lessons independently, or adapts published material for your programmes. Or perhaps you are writing for a publisher, but your publisher is not trying to sell as many books to the widest possible (which includes the most conservative) audiences. In any case, if you have the desire to create more inclusive materials, but feel inadequately trained or prepared, this book aims to work with you.

Task 2

What does inclusion mean to you? Who is impacted by its improvement? How does improvement affect materials?

You can read a commentary on this task here.

Our globalized world brings perspectives from one society to another, whether it’s wholly welcomed or not. Language learners temporarily visit or migrate from one