ABSTRACT
We refrain from providing a summary conclusion as the threads of discussion in this book are too diverse and seem poised to take surprising new directions. As we mentioned in the Introduction, we would like to encourage our contributors and readers to develop these threads in fresh avenues in time to come. However, we would like to take a leap of imagination (or faith?) and consider the type of changes in scholarly activity, pedagogical practice, and professional relationships this dialogue should lead to. We would like to see more balanced research on the role of missionaries in language teaching and education in the colonial period. The understandable backlash against the colonial experience has delayed a sound and objective appraisal of the role of missions in colonized communities. Whereas we have very sophisticated and subtle studies of English language and cultural contact during the colonial period by scholars in World Englishes (for language) and postcolonial and subaltern studies (for culture), religion has received short shrift. We would like to see more classroom research on ways in which teachers and students negotiate their beliefs in teaching and learning. Empirical research hasn’t kept pace with the amount of theoretical discussions on the role of spirituality in language learning. It would be even better if the research is collaborative or modeled after participant action research. This way, teachers can be sensitive to the belief system many students come from. It is difficult for an atheistic scholar to give voice to the concerns and aspirations of students and communities that are spiritual, or vice versa, however heroic the effort by the researchers concerned. We know the difficulties and complexities in representation, even in objective research, in the context of postmodernism and identity politics. We would like to see more philosophical discourse on how to share our values and challenge each other in the age of pluralism. How can we learn from intercultural contact in precolonial times? Are there models that we can refurbish for our purposes? What are the models developing in scholarly communities outside TESOL as scholars attempt to speak to each other across national, cultural, and religious borderlines in present-day universities? We would like to see space for values and beliefs in teacher development programs. While we are slowly breaking away from a positivistic focus on methods and skills, “soft” areas like morality, beliefs, and imagination haven’t received adequate attention. We would like to see course work and research proposals on
these topics further exploring the role of spirituality and faith in the professional identity formation of teachers. We would like to see a TESOL convention, AERA or AAAL annual meeting treat moral and spiritual values as the theme for the whole conference. Even lesser efforts, such as organizing panels and accepting presentations on teachers’ experiences dealing with morality and spirituality in their pedagogical practice, would be helpful. We would like to see a forum in which scholars come together to engage with one another face to face to further explore these issues in an open dialogue. We would like to see Christian English teachers who have come to new and deeper understandings of issues of power and integrity actively communicate with their mission organizations and churches, helping them to: adopt a holistic view of witness (combine sensitivity to social and personal well-being of people along with a concern for their spiritual well-being); engage with the social and political realities of the countries they serve in along with a critical engagement of the political policies of their own countries; recruit only those teachers who have the appropriate training, experience, and academic qualifications for the assignments they are given; provide means for continued professionalization of their teachers; discontinue any policies or advertising that discriminate against NNEST, diminishes the value of professionalization, or is insensitive to the host people and nation; monitor teachers to ensure they are not abusing their power and using the classroom to proselytize; and take measures to be more transparent about their organization’s identity and mission. We would like to see this dialogue extend to other faith traditions to move beyond the focus on Christianity and to explore how other ideologies, faiths, and religions influence teaching and learning, and the identities of teachers and students. We would like teachers to develop more robust ways of understanding how their worldview and religious beliefs influence their pedagogy. We would like to see teachers challenge that which they find to be inappropriate in this intersection of the spiritual and professional and to strengthen that which they find brings wholeness to their teaching and their lives. On the personal level, we would like to see more of our members in our professional community feeling comfortable about discussing and representing their values and belief systems in their teaching and scholarly life. The culture of political correctness that silences people’s innermost values is not healthy for education or for our professional development. Our employers and institutions have to create the needed space to be more open about our diverse identities. For all this to happen, much depends on the way scholars with values conduct themselves. We need to practice the models of discourse articulated in this book-i.e., exploratory dialogue, nonjudgmental discourse, transformative dialogue, or transactional dialogue-which would enable us to be honest about our values, understanding of the positions of others, engaged in civil conversation, and committed to help each other in our mutual spiritual and professional journeys.
