Investigating Students’ Negotiation of Religious Faiths in ELT Contexts: A Critical Spiritual Pedagogy Perspective

Based on a larger case study project at an English language teacher education program in Indonesia, this article demonstrates how Christian and non-Christian students negotiate their religious faiths in English-language-teaching (ELT) settings. In view of the critical spiritual pedagogy perspective, the current study defies dichotomizing religious faiths and critical approaches to ELT. This perspective also challenges marginalization due to the maintenance of power differentials and privilege, and promotes spiritual interdependence through establishing connections by means of (interfaith) dialogues, love, and humility. Data from six students elicited in a series of individual interviews and an audio-recorded class session were analyzed. Two selected emerging themes include students’ willingness to engage in interfaith dialogues and reflexivity about performances of religious identities in class or elsewhere. These themes confront reservations about the incorporation of religion into ELT. Implications for language educators who are likely to deal with spiritual issues with their students are offered.