Avril Haye Matsui
Nagoya city university
Avril Haye Matsui is a foreign language lecturer at Nagoya city university. Her research areas are gender, diversity in ELT and student and teacher identity. She is co-founder of the Black women in Japan friendship and support group and creator of the Nagoya women's empowerment circle.
Sessions
The Changing Face of ELT: Black Women in ELT
This presentation focuses on the experiences of female English language teachers (ELT) from the African continent and of the African Diaspora (Black women) who currently reside in Japan. Using the narrative inquiry methodology (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) to explore her participants’ stories, along with auto-ethnography, the researcher will discuss how and if perceptions of gender, race and racial stereotyping impact upon their participation in professional Communities of Practice as described by Wenger (2002).
Blending Cultural Awareness and Social Activism
The movement of people across borders means that Japanese communities are changing. However, if attitudes towards gender and cultural diversity do not also change communities may become breeding grounds for intolerance and discrimination. This workshop will explore how teachers can help foster attitudes of openness and acceptance of cultural difference and be agents of social change through blending social activism and cultural awareness in our pedagogy. Participants will leave with practical ideas for classroom use.