Textbook project

ENGLISH 2019
Our context as a sourceof learning
DESCRIPTION
This strategy is aimed at providing
the students with critical manners
to read their contexts,so that they
can propose ways to solve their
family, school and social issues
through English.
PBRO. CAMILO TORRES
RESTREPO SCHOOL
Diego Piedrahíta – English Teacher
1st version

PBRO. CAMILO TORRES RESTREPO
This list of issues is the result of ongoing talks between teacher-students, whose main goal is to use English as a bridge (or excuse) to
create more critical manners to think and act.
How much do these issues affect our personal and academic growth?
These are some of the most evident problems happeningin our daily life:
1. Classism 2. Racism
3. Exclusion 4. Homophobia
5. Marginalization 6. Stereotypes
7. Xenophobia 8. Xenophilia
9. Feminism 10. Male chauvinism
11. Regionalism
onalism
12. Inequity
13. Gender inequity 14. Over-protection
15. Domestic violence 16. Abuse: psychological, physical, verbal
17. Prejudices 18. Bullying

ENGLISH 2019
The invention of Internethas been changingthe waypeople communicate andlive. However, itis important
to recognize what life was like some decades ago, for then to reflect on how much generations have
changedand will change, and what we need to do to avoid taking social issues to other scenarios: digital
worlds.
The Internet has made life easier, but how much is it affecting life styles?
Camila and Emily (11°) described how times have changed in terms of
communication. They concluded that communication is not as personal as
before. Now messages are immediate, but they do not transmit clear
intentions as before, where words described real feelings. WhatsApp and
social networks chats include emojis whose intentions we need to decipher.
To conclude, we need to be careful and read words, emojis and intentions,
to avoid getting into trouble and be affected by users on the other side of
these devices’ screens.
Ximena and Eilyn (11°) compared both media (letters and WhatsApp) and
concluded that now communication is not as formal and polite as before.
Current messages on WhatsApp include images that transmit different
meanings. They represent emotions and intentions; but we must be
responsible when sending information or interpreting messages, since
these chats can lead to abuse, disrespect, bullying and new forms of abuse
in virtual settings such as sexting, texting, phishing and grooming.

Socialization is another aspect that changedafter the invention of the Internet
For Andreína (11°), addiction to online tools has made
current generation lazier, more dependent on
electronic devices and colder when communicating
each other. According to her comic, not interpreting
our addiction to the Internet, social networks and
online games makes us fragile to believe everything we
see on the screen, and to transmit false feelings. This
cartoon teaches us that we real life is what happen
once we turn off the cell phones and computers.
Unfortunately, many teens, kids (and even adults),
exclude or are socially excluded when they fall apart
from their reality by living in virtual environments
where nobody controls their behaviors (as in real life,
for instance in the case of the mom trying to control
this addiction)
It’s common to see how some naïve teens fall for
deceptions by hackers or malicious users through fake
links or striking messages.
Addiction
NO
analysis
bullying
abuse
isolation
low self-esteem

ENGLISH 2019
Some students expressed their opinion about the way they perceive both generations. What can you infer from this?
Music is also influential (beliefs, clothes, life styles)
Gabriel Gutiérrez (11°) is an artist who paints realities. For him music has
been influential, since according to his questioning and analysis, in
1980’s pop music was a trend, and therefore people wore based on the
styles they watched on TV. On the contrary, in 2019 reggaeton is the
most influential gender in teens, who dress according to how this music
is represented on different media. However, the most relevant aspect is
the “objectivization” of the woman, and so the increasing rate of male-
chauvinism practices. Male-chauvinism is, then, a phenomenon affecting
the society, especially women, who are not recognized their values as
human beings
Catalina (11°) described how families have changed in terms of numbers
of members. In the 80’s families were big, and parents could afford to
feed each child. However, current families are classified into extended,
blended, single-parent, only-child . . . this phenomenon is due to the non-
dependence on social rules or traditions. But spite the few children
composing current families, there’s no a planning that possibilities better
future expectations. Early pregnancy is becoming a social problem since
current young mothers are not enough prepared (psychologically) to face
this new role. From this analysis it is deduced that teens are focused on
living the moment, and not on planning their life goals.

jj
Socialization is another aspect that changedafter the invention of the Internet
Juan José (11°) identified some changes in the way children played and socialized before, and how
The Internet has made children and teens passive and sedentary. However, there’s a key concept in
the communication between parents and kids (2019). He noticed a matter of lack of authority, reason
why they have no control over their kids’ addiction to online games.
For him, lack of authority is a social issue, because a high number of children and teens are having
negative behaviors in their society, including at school.
Cristian and Estefanía (11°) identified a change
in communication and recognized the negative
effects of non-face-to-face communication
through messenger (WhatsApp, Facebook…)
with unknown people who can access our
personal information with just adding a phone
number or sending a friend request.

ENGLISH 2019
Dependence,male-chauvinism and social inequity are some findings
Isabella (11°) concluded that current teens are not prepared to form a
family. For her, the dependence on adults is a problem affecting the
quality of life of new families (just-married couples). This is due to the
passive life teenagers carry out, and the interests in factor external to
their homes. For example, some teens just want to live the moment, and
experience new sensations; but for them learning to “survive” (chores) is
not a priority.
•For some men, especially in Medellín,
women's role is taking care of the
house chores. For this reason, they're
forced to stay home while men work.
male-
chauvinism
•Another group recognized some
gender inequities in the city; for
them women are not valued and
recognized their skills to perform
different jobs. This is why they
have to stay home as there's no
enough job options for them.
Social
inequity
After the design of this comic, a group of students analyzed two
additional social problems, which they describe below:

Exclusion and prejudges as a discriminatory force
Daniela (11°) analyzed how families have changed their way of sharing. In 1980’s
families used to save money, and then they planned where to go according with
their savings. Coveñas and La Costa were the most popular places to visit.
However, nowadays media has influenced family plans as trips around world,
especially The United States, are publicized on social networks, television... and
banks make it easier to travel.
But not all families can afford to visit foreign tourist places, since Visa is easily
rejected to those families who do not show enough outcome. Additionally, the
perception of Colombians as drug dealers affects the right to one’s good name.
This situation represents some social issues:
Social exclusion and prejudges.

ENGLISH 2019
“Memes” as sources of learning
P U R P O S E
These resources are used to allow students to describe
common situations they live. By using “memes”, we share our
feelings and emotions and how external factors affect our
mood. Then, these images are used as an institutional
learning material.
ADVANTAGES
1. Drawings represent our thoughts, which are described
creatively through simple phrases. This methodology
favors teamwork and funny experiences.
2. By sharing these emojis, we learn how our partners live
similar situations, but which change depending on factors
such as personality, family environment, interests, etc.
3. These images are shared with different groups to reflect
on how much emotions can lead to make decisions. We
connect our points of view with situations we live or
witness in our neighborhoods.
What do people do in our family when they are
depressed (facing a negative situation)?
How positive or negative is this decision?
How to act in similar situations?
PROCESS
First, we (teacher and students) practice some new words:
feelings and emotions, then we bring to class real experiences
in our family, school or social contexts. Finally, in groups, we
draw these situations for then to be able to talk about how
each member deals with these situations
Feeling: angry, disappointed,
furious
Analysis: dealing with feelings and
emotions involves making decisions
that do not affect us or others. Most
of the social issues we have is
because of the hurried decisions
people make.

The following “memes” represent some common situations we live in our homes, school or society:
Exclusion and prejudges as a discriminatory force

ENGLISH 2019
Now let’s reflect on how we show feelings and emotions based on social issues which sometimes we do not realize as problems:
Throw the dice, interpret the problem, choose a face and propose strategies to solve this issue
Example: # 12 – this is a case of bullying – people should be responsible when using social networks. I never use it to offend
24
When my dad gives
my brother $ 10.000
and to me $ 3.000
23
When someone has to
work overtime (at
nights) to grow the
family
22
When all sick people
can receive medical
assistance
21
When students have
a high self-esteem
and are not affected
by external factors
20
When
Someone says that
soccer is only for
men
19
When adults use
words and examples
to teach (no
punishments)
13
When someone says
“men don’t cry”
14
When a bad friend says
“I have an invitation for
you”
15
When people respect
and protect animals
16
When someone in
the family
disrespects me
17
When the salaries for
men and women are
fair and equitable
18
When my
dad/brother cooks
and cleans the house
These “memes” tell what we commonly do when we
are facing similar situations. But, how do people
reactin our societywhen they are sad, disappointed,
angry, jealous, happy, desperate? These are some faces that represent the students’ fears, dreams,
anguishes, expectations and emotions.
This is my face . . .

12
When people use
Facebook to post
negative comments
11
When I have a problem
and my parents say “I’ll
help you”
10
When the
government steals
poor people’s money
9
When someone says,
“good morning”,
please”, “excuse me”
8
When someone close
to me is consuming
drugs
7
When there’s no
food for all at the
school restaurant
1
When my parents
discuss.
2
When I see children
working in the traffic
lights
3
When someone tells
my secrets
4
When someone
discriminates people
from other country
or region
5
When my family
dialogs
6
When someone says
rude words to a
woman in the street
At home many practices reveal some family and social issues:
Some social issues coming from home
Samuel Ramírez (7°) shared the way he
represents his house. In this image we can
identify some actions in their corresponding
rooms. However, times have changed, and
families do not have the same rules they did
some decades ago.
Now try to answer:
1. Where do you eat?
2. Who cooks at home?
3. Do you make your bed?
4. What do you do to help cleaning the
house?
5. What time do you eat your daily
meals?
6. Doyou have a televisioninyour room?
7. How often do you and your family
dialog? Where?

ENGLISH 2019
Comics are the visual representation of realities. The following ones describe common situations in which we, or people around us, are
affected by stereotypes, prejudges…
Comics: Social issues, sometimes invisible before our eyes
Camila, Jhoana and Jilray (8°) and concluded that exclusion is not only in terms of no access to any academic or work life; we exclude
even more when we do not recognize people’s abilities, maybe sometimes different to ours. Assertive communication is a keyconcept
to consider when addressing this population.
Natalia, Valeria, Camilo and Andrés (8°) identified a case of discrimination and racism in a very common situation at school. They also
concluded that discrimination leads to other social problems, such as consumption of drugs. For them, the excluded boy makes bad
decisions because he does not find any way to overcome this problem. Let’s stop – we are all different but valuable!

kk
Schools as places to learn how to live differences
Games in class are very common. However, when we
make fun of others, we are ridiculing them.
This cartoon represents a case of bullying, since
someone uses his force to hit and manipulate a partner.
Stop bullying, classes must be places to learn to live
with our differences!
In this comic (2018), some children are ignoring a
partner. First, he feels sad and excluded, however he
teaches us that happiness does not depend on others.
Happiness depends on how we see life!

ENGLISH 2019
The following comics describe how the physical appearance and some personality features lead to prejudges.
Physical characteristics and personality, do they lead to prejudges?
Maria José, Luisa and Karen (8°) identified a case of
stereotypes and prejudges, based on how people judge
others because of their physical appearance, clothing and
styles.
We need to get to know others to avoid wrong opinions!
Thomas and Sara (8°) expressed their opinion about the
manner homophobia is seen in society.
It consists on rejecting people who think and act
differently. For them, respecting differences is the first
step to stop this social issue.

Physical appearance is sometimes used to exert control over defenseless people.
Abuse is expressed in different forms

ENGLISH 2019
Gireth (8°) wasconcernedabouthow abuse is representedthrough physical force.For her, somepeopleusetheir physical conditiontocontrol
others.
In this comic, she analyzed a case of physical and verbal abuse to attack a vulnerable young boy.
Let’s stop believing that we can decide on others.
Xenophobia and xenophilia are also forms of exclusion
Valeria, Maria Isabel and Samuel (8°) reflected about the concept
some foreigners have toward local people. For them, money
represents power, reason why some visitors come to Medellin to
“buy” all they want, even values and honor (people, especially teens)
This is a phenomenon that increases because some local peoplefeel
attraction for tourists from Europe or The United States. This social
issue called Xenophilia leads to lose control over our acts, when we
decidetosell our dreams,valuesanddignity.Our valueis notin terms
of money!
On the other hand, Gabriel Gutiérrez (11°), lets us reflect on some
social issues we can observe near our school.
In this image he represents what some people from low economic
condition lives daily. He thinks this is social inequity, since children
must be studying, and not working.
The Government is the one responsible for providing communities
with access to better work and study conditions. However, the
corruption is the main factor that prevents children from having
better life conditions.

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Tales: Inclusion or exclusion
Juliana (9°) tellsa story in which a girl must faceher parents’ death,
and so she decides to make new friends to avoid feeling alone.
However, as we can see in our neighborhood, she made a bad
decision: she did not read the new friends’ intentions.
Being included in social groups does not mean to have found a
hand in difficult moments.

ENGLISH 2019
Tales: Low salaries as social inequity
Joaquin was a man who lived in Santo
Domingo, Medellín. It was December 15th
and he wanted to celebrate Christmas with
his family, but he had some economic
problems
He lived with his three children, since he
was a single-parent. His kids wanted to
have some presents on December 24th
.
But his salary was not enough (he
earned the minimal wage), so he asked
a friend to work with him in a cafeteria
(in the evenings), after his full-time job
in a construction building
Alejandra and Laura (9°) tells a story
based on a real experience. They
question the social inequities in terms of
family incomes. They think parents have

Here are some tips to avoid discrimination by Linda and Luisa (8°)
- Do not judge people without
knowing about them
- Treat others as you want
to be treated
- Help others when they need
you, regardless of their
beliefs, social conditions,
religion or skin color.
- You’re as valuable as
people around you, so be
hamble,regardlessof your
social status.
Racism and exclusionAfter some days working over time, he got
the money he needed to provide his children
with the presents they wanted for Christmas.
Now Joaquín feels it was worthy to have
worked that much. Christmas was a time
to share and show his loved ones that
they deserve all his efforts.

ENGLISH 2019
- Accept and respect
differences. We are all human
beings, but equiped with
different skills
- Do not tell jokes based on
gender, sxuality or
religion. They can be
considered as
discriminatory
- Use kind words when talking
to others
- Think before talking and
acting.
Incluircuentode emily,camila…
Sheily,Juan Manuel, EmilyandCamila (9°) narrateda sadbutreal
story. They detailed how abusers are sometimes inside our
homes. This exercise allowed to them to reflect on how to
identify these negative acts and what to do to stop this
Tales: a wolf inside my family

News: something wrong is happening

ENGLISH 2019
A group of students described how social problems are presneted in common situations in different settings of the city.
New country, new challenges
Paulita is a Venezuelan girl who had to emigrate from her
country with her family due to some economic problems. She
and her familytraveledtolivein a neighborcountry: Colombia,
hoping to have better life conditions.
Finally, she began to study in a public school. There she tries
to make friends in a playground, where there’s a group of kids
playing.
Paulita introduces herself to the children and tells them that
she comes from Venezuela, but immediately they reject her
and tell that her parents do not trust people like them.
No prejudices and exclusion allowed!
By Valentina,JulianaandEduard(10°)

Promises
This is the elected president. Now he’s making some laws that
favorizes him and his group of politicians. Nobodybelieves in
him, since he does not show interest in working for vulnerable
populations such as children, elderly and farmers.
People from La Guajira are suffering from hunger (starving),
but this community does not mean anything to the people in
charge of the “power” in Colombia.
Therefore farmers, poor people, indigenous and children feel
rejected and excluded, since they do not represent any
important sector for the elite in this country.
No social exclusion allowed!
By Valentina and Laura (10°)

ENGLISH 2019
Metro
Luisa is a citizen of Medellin. She takes the Metro every day to
goto school.In her journey she noticesthat peopledonotfollow
the Metro culture and throw garbage to the floor. She feels
disappointed.
During vacation time the city is visited by many tourists who do
not know the rules on the Metro. Most of them eat inside this
means of transport, throw garbage in the floor and do not wear
appropriate clothes.
Luis sees this as normal because these acts come from people
fromThe UnitedStates or Europe,andregardlessof their culture,
she accepts these behaviors (but she doesn’t with local people)
No xenophilia allowed!
By Luisa,Melisa, Camila and Vanessa (10°)

The points of view included on this textbook represent some students’ opinions about the social issues reflected and analyzed in
class, and how learners are expressing their voices to find ways to solve their own issues. These comments and texts are useful
for further ways of interpreting what happens in our contexts.
Thanks to all those wonderful students and school staff who have accepted the challenge to study English with a purpose:
finding in our city, neighborhood, home or classroom the perfect settings to improve our way of interpreting and changing
realities.
Diego Piedrahíta
Acknowledgments

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