Helping English language teachers become gender aware

Abstract

Abstract This article describes some insights gained as a result of a pedagogical experience designed for Colombian ELT teachers with the objective of raising gender awareness in their teaching practices. Such experience derives from a gender-based graduate course offered in a master’s programme in Applied Linguistics to the teaching of English at a Colombian university. During the implementation of this course there were important reflections and insights that could be used for other English language teachers who are interested in adopting a gender view within their teaching practices. This article positions the practical learning of this experience as transformative practices, which aim at supporting in-service English language teachers within their learning process of this perspective. It is hoped that these practices will challenge traditional understandings of English language teacher education drawing on critical pedagogy to build a more explicit gender awareness in the ELT field.