A 'Trajectories of Agency' and Discursive Identities in Education: : Critical Site in Feminist Language Planning

Viewing education as a complex site for endorsing and contesting knowledges andpractices we explore its critical roles in feminist language planning. Many types oflanguage planning have relied heavily on education for the implementation andspread of the particular reform agenda largely reliant on discourses of compulsoryobligation (e.g. spelling reforms). The scenario of feminist language planning revealsthat education is not a mere external agent of implementation but central to theraising of awareness or provoking an ‘Initiating Trajectory’ (Winter & Pauwels, 2003).However, the implementation of gender-inclusive practices (‘Trajectories of Practices’)in education highlights contexts of conflict (and confusion) about grammatical prescriptionsand social reform (Pauwels & Winter, 2006). In this paper we probe theadoption, problematisation and invigoration of ‘Agency Trajectories’ in (language)educators’ narratives and classroom practices. Our investigation includes educatorsoperating in diverse English-language communities (e.g. Australia, Singapore, HongKong).