CLTA DEI Mission Statement
Adopted by resolution on October 15, 2023

• The CLTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee endorses language teaching that:
  • welcomes all students, and honors their varied identities and abilities, including any physical disabilities and neurodiversities.
  • recognizes students’ multicultural and plurilinguistic capital as assets, and foments inclusivity through such practices as gender inclusive language, respect for diverse language varieties, translanguaging, and trauma-informed teaching.
  • understands, as Paulo Freire taught us, that language is an instrument of power that can be used either to oppress or to liberate, and therefore views our classrooms and curricula as antiracist, decolonizing endeavors.
  • espouses the notion that language and culture exist in an overlapping, symbiotic relationship, and incorporates yet moves beyond the communicative approach to integrate reflection, including individual self-reflection and collective class reflection, as pedagogical tools.
  • seeks tools and strategies for doing this work in ways that:
    • validate students’ experiences, 
    • expose, confront, and dismantle systems of oppression,
    • provide students with opportunities to take action, and
    • avoid reactivating traumas.
• With these principles in mind, the DEI Committee will consider, advise, and make recommendations to the CLTA Board to promote a diverse and inclusive language education community, including professional development and curricular resources at all levels (preK to postgraduate), to break down barriers to access and opportunity, and to advance DEI in world language curricula and communities.  

Adopted by Resolution 10/15/23