Ian Cushing
@iancushing.bsky.social
Reader in Critical Applied Linguistics, Manchester Metropolitan University. Documenting and dismantling linguistic injustice in schools. Editor, Critical Studies in Education. Leverhulme Prize 2026-2029. https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-ian-cushing
according to these school discipline policies, children who use these language patterns are ‘misbehaving’. open access article exploring this in depth: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Ian Cushing@iancushing.bsky.social · 2y agoin analysing 563 behaviour policies from the 34 largest multi-academy trusts in England, i show how 'misbehaviour' is associated with a constellation of linguistic features - these are of course not empirically connected, but ideologically connected.
We remember Deborah Cameron in this piece by the emag editors and Lia Litosseliti, Jo Angouri & @iancushing.bsky.social
Reform UK Conference 2026 This is all it will be remembered for.
in new work published in Applied Linguistics i propose a set of design principles for the design and creation of linguistic justice in schools at an institutional level, rooted in imagination infrastructure and place-based activism 🌸 open access here: doi.org/10.1093/appl...
Jesus Christ: '...a two-year ethnographic study of scripted math curriculum found decreased teacher innovation and creativity as well a new definition of “good teaching"...this teacher came to believe that the poor and minority children in her classroom “needed” such restrictive teaching.'
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · last mo.The allure of simplicity: Scripted curricula and equity - "While participants expressed appreciation for aspects of the modules, they articulated an alarming ideology that inequities (including disability and poverty) could be remedied by holding students to high standards."
We need to show rightwing newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1
Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project
Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.
goodlawproject.org
when racist academia and racist press converge, this is what happens. RIP.
Or, in fact, not really a news story at all. I don’t believe at all that this was nationally important and certainly not “third on the BBC 6 o’clock news” important as a story. Cofnas started all of this because he’s a racist and the media ran with it.
Nadine Batchelor-Hunt@nadinebh.bsky.social · last mo.No, that is not the alternative The alternative was treating like a normal news story, and not a trial by media - one that was so clearly turbocharged by Arday’s ethnic and social background and the growing resentment in the establishment in the UK of having more black people in high places
This is appalling and tragic. Cambridge University, the media, and those far right 'scholars' and hangers on who sought to capitalise on this case for social media clout surely bear responsibility for what feels like an entirely predictable outcome. www.lbc.co.uk/article/jaso...
Former Cambridge professor Jason Arday found dead aged 41 | LBC
Mr Arday is understood to have been found "unresponsive" at an address in Battersea on Friday afternoon
lbc.co.uk
Go check out @geraldroche.bsky.social's review of @sophiasgaler.bsky.social's "How to Kill a Language" for a surgical dissection of the history of language oppression denialism, clear and informed reminders of its political nature, and a buncha links to good research (incl. by @chirila.bsky.social):
Languages are disappearing, and the problem is political
Language loss is often a reluctant choice made to escape violence, not a willing choice made to gain benefits.
theconversation.com
We have four open positions at @stanfordeducation.bsky.social : teacher education, early learning mechanisms & interventions, Social Sciences/Humanities of Education in a Rapidly Changing World, & K-12 Ethnic Studies Education! Spread the word! ed.stanford.edu/faculty/jobs
Open Positions | Stanford Graduate School of Education
ed.stanford.edu
in new work published in Applied Linguistics i propose a set of design principles for the design and creation of linguistic justice in schools at an institutional level, rooted in imagination infrastructure and place-based activism 🌸 open access here: doi.org/10.1093/appl...
What does a linguistically just oracy framework look like? @iancushing.bsky.social & @mschoudrey.bsky.social reimagine oracy in England's schools through the lenses of social justice, anti-racism, anti-ableism, and linguistic diversity. 📚🗣️ doi.org/10.1080/0013... #Oracy #LinguisticJustice
Just 1 reason to love this #anti-ableist oracy framework: “Children have the right … to not answer when prompted. Staying silent can be a powerful form of refusal - especially for children who reject curricula … who feel let down by schooling … or for children who simply do not feel like talking”
Ian Cushing@iancushing.bsky.social · 2mo agoour framework offers an alternative to oracy initiatives which reproduce deficit thinking about language, treat oracy as a depoliticised entity, overlook multilingual abilities, reproduce ableist ideologies about communication, and frame oracy as a language-based solution to structural problems.
Lecturer in Critical Applied Linguistics at MMU (p/t; fixed term). Deadline August 16. The role would suit people with interests and expertise in issues concerning critical language pedagogies, language and social justice, and educational linguistics. manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk/jobs/vacancy...
Lecturer (Critical Applied Linguistics) - (9121) | Manchester Metropolitan University Careers
All about Manchester Metropolitan - an exciting, modern university in the heart of one of the UK's great student cities.
manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk
Just came across this amazing documentary. Expect some more clips today!
Ouch. The curriculum review oracy focus made no reference to multilingual abilities if pupils. Only deficit in English. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition
It is September 2028. All schools in England have just started teaching the new national curriculum. As part of this, they are adhering to guidance contained within a new oracy framework, named as ...
tandfonline.com
Follow the Word Gap: The Social Life of a Deficit Concept - Cushing - 2025 - Reading Research Quarterly - Wiley Online Library ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
<em>Reading Research Quarterly</em> | ILA Literacy Journal | Wiley Online Library
This article uses a ‘follow the thing’ methodology to trace the trajectory of the so-called word gap from its original conception in 1990s US academic knowledge production through to a teacher educat...
ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
In an article for Reading Research Quarterly, Manchester Metropolitan University Reader in Critical Applied Linguistics Ian Cushing follows the “word gap” across time, policy, and classrooms—exposing how deficit ideologies stigmatize families and constrain teachers: buff.ly/cXdttbR
"In education systems such as England, which are characterized by an increasing level of state power and surveillance, it becomes urgently important to challenge word gap ideologies which exacerbate social inequality under seemingly benevolent guises of empowerment and social justice." --Ian Cushing
"Word gap ideologies operate on the myth that the language practices of white, able-bodied, middle-upper class communities are objectively higher quality than those of racialized, disabled and low-income communities. " --- Ian Cushing www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Word rich or word poor? Deficit discourses, raciolinguistic ideologies and the resurgence of the ‘word gap’ in England’s education policy
Educational linguists across England and the USA have long critiqued deficit-based language ideologies in schools, yet since the early 2010s, these have enjoyed a marked resurgence in England’s edu...
tandfonline.com
our framework offers an alternative to oracy initiatives which reproduce deficit thinking about language, treat oracy as a depoliticised entity, overlook multilingual abilities, reproduce ableist ideologies about communication, and frame oracy as a language-based solution to structural problems.
Ian Cushing@iancushing.bsky.social · 3mo agowww.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition Open access and out now in Educational Review
In the latest episode of the Language-on-the-Move podcast @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social, @brynnquick.bsky.social chats with @nelsonlflores.bsky.social about bilingual education in the US, and why it's not the path to reducing disadvantage it is cracked up to be languageonthemove.com/genealogy-of...
Genealogy of Bilingual Education in the US
In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Brynn Quick sits down with Dr. Nelson Flores to discuss his 2024 book entitled Becoming the System: A Raciolinguistic Genealogy of Bilingual Edu…
languageonthemove.com
our linguistic justice oracy framework intervenes prior to the publication of the ‘official’ DfE framework. it offers a vision for an anti-racist and anti-ableist oracy which sustains the linguistic dexterity that all children bring to school with them. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition
It is September 2028. All schools in England have just started teaching the new national curriculum. As part of this, they are adhering to guidance contained within a new oracy framework, named as ...
tandfonline.com
Ian Cushing@iancushing.bsky.social · 3mo agowww.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition Open access and out now in Educational Review
Fascinating piece by @iancushing.bsky.social + Sabah Choudrey that challenges the deficit thinking informing lots of current work about oracy www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition
It is September 2028. All schools in England have just started teaching the new national curriculum. As part of this, they are adhering to guidance contained within a new oracy framework, named as ...
tandfonline.com
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... An oracy framework for England’s schools: linguistic justice edition Open access and out now in Educational Review
Have a read! We include 2 case studies of linguistic justice efforts with teachers and students.
Ian Cushing@iancushing.bsky.social · 4mo agoit was fun to collaborate with @clarefeeneyuk.bsky.social on this position paper on linguistic in/justice for the @englishassociation.bsky.social, where we point to the need to conceptualise linguistic in/justice in structural and intersectional ways 🌸 englishassociation.ac.uk/position-pap...