It's (in)escapable: Critically reflecting on a second language curriculum in a settler colonial context

Abstract

In this article, we critically examine the Ontario, Canada secondary French as a second language (FSL) curriculum to unpack the ways it both resists and perpetuates colonial, racist, and oppressive discourses. By engaging in this analysis, we aim to inspire language teacher educators to envision and critically engage with alternative, anticolonial, feminist frameworks that challenge dominant paradigms by developing critical reflection, contextual awareness, and fostering equity‐minded language teacher education (LTE). We encourage a shift from merely recognizing inequities to actively reimagining curriculum and pedagogical practices that promote inclusivity, equity, and justice in LTE. To launch our inquiry, we collaboratively examined the curriculum in NVivo to uncover what is said or not said using critical discourse analysis anchored within a feminist anticolonial framework. Findings reveal that, although the curriculum advocates for inclusion and diversity in its introduction, the document superficially includes diversity throughout without white settler accountability and avoids diverging from a liberal multiculturalism framework, allowing white settler privilege to remain intact. Discussion of the findings examines the implications of these illusions of inclusion and the necessity of critically reflecting on oppressive, settler colonial systems and pedagogies in language education and LTE.