Learning English Out of School: An Inclusive Approach to Research and Action

Abstract

Official indicators suggest that English as a Foreign Language is one of the school subjects that is most telling of social inequalities in Catalonia, this being the geographical and educational context where the research presented in this volume was carried out. Similar findings are reported in other areas of Europe. This monograph reports on the main findings of the research project 'Inclusive epistemologies and practices of out-of-school English learning (IEP!)' , funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and led by the author of this chapter, which ran from January 2019 until June 2021. The project responded to low attainment levels for English as a Foreign Language among socioeconomically disadvantaged youth in a municipality in the metropolitan area surrounding Barcelona. As part of this project, the contributors to this volume: 1) collaboratively researched teenagers' existing practices of using and learning English out of school time; 2) implemented new, inclusive, nonformal English language educational initiatives; 3) evaluated the impact of the nonformal English language educational initiatives implemented; and 4) supported the sustainability and transferability of the initiatives. The project embedded collaborative and creative ways of working and building knowledge into its methodology, and in this sense, it aimed to contest traditional researcher-researched and logocentric hierarchies of knowledge, and to foster not only inclusive educational practices, but also inclusive epistemologies.