The CATESOL Journal

Multilingual students learning English are situated in systems of oppression that require a critical understanding of the role that language plays in discrimination. We describe how we create opportunities to develop and implement critical pedagogies that aim to challenge white mainstream English (Baker-Bell, 2020) as the default language in our multilingual classroom spaces and detail how our pedagogies can contribute to decentering “whiteness” in English Language Teaching (Motha, 2014). Through narrative inquiry, we demonstrate how teachers can develop antiracist pedagogies in ELT by actively listening to each other’s experiences, forming hush-harbors (Kynard, 2010), and integrating radical love (hooks, 2001). Additionally, exposing students to counternarratives from marginalized writers diversifies and enriches their learning experience. These pedagogical practices create opportunities for students’ growth by centering love, humanizing education, and deliberately creating a sense of belonging.