In Argentina English is taught as a foreign language and has always been considered prestigious. The goals and motivations to learn English in this country are generally associated with better job and education opportunities. In the 19th century, English was used for commerce and business involving the railway system and the farm and meat industry (Nielsen, 2003). After 1900, three foreign languages, English, French and Italian, were used in Argentina in the business area and in education, which led to the incorporation of the teaching of English and French in schools. However, after the enactment of the National Law 24.195 in 1993
(Ministerio de Cultura y Educación de la Nación, 1993), the teaching of Portuguese replaced the teaching of French in schools after the creation of the MERCOSUR (Southern Common
Market) (Pozzo, 2009), and English became ‘the’ most important foreign language taught at all institutional levels, including elementary, secondary and university education. In the early 2000s, due to the dissatisfaction with policies that had been framed within neoliberal ideologies
76
in the 1990s, the Argentine Ministry of Education began to design educational policies in the hope of providing equal opportunities for all members of the community. Instead of considering teaching methods that were commonly used in English speaking countries as it had been the case up to the 1990’s, new educational policies set in Argentina highlighted the need to embrace approaches in the classroom that are contextually based and that cater to the realities and
specific needs of the country. At present, whereas the role of English associated with economic growth is still acknowledged, new policies in Argentina are beginning to recognize the
important role that the English language plays in, for example, building well-being in societies (Kamhi-Stein, Maggioli, & de Oliveira, 2017).
The inclusion of foreign languages in the educational system in Argentina is supported by principles associated to a cognitive and to an intercultural dimension of learning. The cognitive dimension supports the view that learning a foreign language facilitates the
comprehension of the native language and thereby helps optimize its use by reflecting on the learning processes involved in a language. In addition, the incorporation of foreign languages in Argentine schools is related to the value of raising students’ awareness on other cultures,
leading to a wider vision of the world and fostering tolerance and acceptance of diversity, which is associated to an intercultural dimension of learning (Valsecchi, Barbeito, & Olivero, 2017). The curricular guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education in the province of Córdoba state that the teaching of English considers three dimensions: English for communication (including linguistic, discourse, and sociocultural knowledge); English for Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) (including the integration of new technologies and the capacity to be critical towards this tool to learn a foreign language); and English and literary discourse (including the incorporation of different literary texts for the development of reading
77
habits) (Ministerio de Educación de la Provincia de Córdoba, 2011).
In addition, both primary and high school level aim at offering students learning opportunities to achieve the following: comprehension and production of contextualized and meaningful language; development of learning strategies for the production of oral and written texts; reflection on the process and value of learning a foreign language; development of self- esteem to be able to overcome obstacles and learn a foreign language according to one’s own individual differences; development of autonomy to be able to practice the foreign language both in the classroom and in other contexts; enjoyment of the process of learning a foreign language and the possibility to communicate meaningfully to know other realities and cultures; respect towards other languages and cultures; and recognition of the benefits of working collaboratively, learning to respect others and negotiate decisions (NAP, 2012).
Most importantly, the inclusion of EFL in primary and high school level in Argentina is grounded on the idea that the teaching of a foreign language fosters the learning of a new language in combination with the capacity to develop the necessary reflective and critical skills to live in multicultural societies in a harmonious way. In other words, the teaching of EFL is considered a valuable tool to enhance and educate for peace in society (NAP, 2012).
3.4.1.1. The incorporation of peace education in the Argentine school curriculum. Apart from what is specified in the curricular guidelines of the Argentine Ministry of Education (NAP, 2012) regarding the need to foster peace through the teaching of EFL, in the last five years the social crisis in Argentina has led to the incorporation of peace related topics into the school curriculum, both in primary and secondary schools. Such content areas include the prevention and eradication of bullying and gender violence, and emotional learning. Although it is expected that these contents are incorporated across the different subjects and content areas of
78
the school curriculum, in the EFL classroom they are not always taken into account.
3.4.1.1.1. Law to prevent bullying. In recognition of the high number of victims who suffered from bullying in the last years in Argentina, a law “anti-bullying” has been passed and approved in the province of Córdoba in June, 2013 (Ley 10.151) (Ministerio de Educación de la Provincia de Córdoba, 2013). This law describes a project that consists of incorporating contents related to school violence and bullying in the curricular guidelines of both primary and secondary schools. Such contents in primary school include topics such as respect for diversity; justice, peace, and liberty; conflict resolution; identity; rights and responsibilities, and have the purpose of developing ethical students who are capable of (a) respecting differences, (b)
identifying conflicts inside and outside the school and being able to solve them in peaceful ways through dialogue, (c) identifying and following classroom principles to be able to work in a kind and pleasant learning environment, among others. The “anti-bullying’ project also considers that each school elaborates a database to track the number of victims who suffer from bullying in the institution, in order to have statistics, analyze possible causes and think of strategies to prevent bullying among students (Ministerio de Educación de la Provincia de Córdoba, 2013).
3.4.1.1.2. Law to prevent gender violence. Due to the high number of femicides in the last decade in Argentina, in 2016 the Ministry of Education in the province of Córdoba established that contents related to gender violence should be incorporated in the curricular guidelines of primary and secondary schools, as well as higher education. The purpose of including such contents is that both students and teachers develop and reflect upon attitudes, theory and practice, and values that foster the prevention and abolition of gender violence. In the same way as the project to prevent bullying, it is expected that the incorporation of gender violence topics form part of the different curricular contents. In order to achieve these goals,
79
teachers have to attend different professional development workshops in which they read and discuss theory, and engage in practical and reflective tasks related to gender violence
(Ministerio de Educación de la Provincia de Córdoba, 2016).
3.4.1.1.3. Law on emotional learning. In Argentina, socio-emotional learning is starting to gain popularity in primary and secondary schools. A project has been recently passed to congress to petition the approval of the law of emotional education, which considers that emotional education should form part of the curricular guidelines of primary, secondary school, and higher education. The purpose of such law is that formal education teaches emotional skills, including self-knowledge, self-regulation of emotions, empathy and social skills, among others. In addition, it considers that teachers in the different educational levels should be trained in four main topics, which include: a) emotional education for young learners, (b) emotional education for parents, (c) emotional education for teachers’ own management of emotions, and (d)
emotional education in interpersonal and institutional relationships. Similarly to the project to prevent gender violence, the goal is that emotional education is integrated across the school curriculum, in different content areas. At present, Corrientes is the only Argentine province that has approved the law (Law 6398) (Ministerio de Educación de la Provincia de Corrientes, 2016). However, even though there is no official law that acknowledges the importance of emotional learning in the province of Córdoba, different primary and secondary schools are starting to incorporate emotional learning into their classrooms.