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.
https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-ian-cushing
https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-ian-cushing
the DfE have responded enthusiastically to the curriculum and assessment review, stating that oracy is an 'important vehicle for social justice'. so more reproduction of this flawed theory of change which isolates 'better oracy' as a solution to injustice.
doi.org/10.1080/0305...
doi.org/10.1080/0305...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
the DfE have responded enthusiastically to the curriculum and assessment review, stating that oracy is an 'important vehicle for social justice'. so more reproduction of this flawed theory of change which isolates 'better oracy' as a solution to injustice.
doi.org/10.1080/0305...
doi.org/10.1080/0305...
the spelling bee is... 'a public ritual of linguistic discipline. It doesn't just reward memorisation; it performs a particular vision of language as precise, codified, and rule-bound, and positions that vision as natural, inevitable, and good' compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
October 30, 2025 at 6:13 AM
the spelling bee is... 'a public ritual of linguistic discipline. It doesn't just reward memorisation; it performs a particular vision of language as precise, codified, and rule-bound, and positions that vision as natural, inevitable, and good' compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....
i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....
i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.
September 19, 2025 at 4:29 AM
new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....
i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....
i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.
excited coz the new issue of Rethinking Schools arrived. this continues to be an amazing source of inspiration and resourcefulness for teachers invested in social justice struggles. also omg we need a version of this from and for teachers in the UK 💜
September 5, 2025 at 10:31 AM
excited coz the new issue of Rethinking Schools arrived. this continues to be an amazing source of inspiration and resourcefulness for teachers invested in social justice struggles. also omg we need a version of this from and for teachers in the UK 💜
Coming soon in Reading Research Quarterly 💫
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
August 30, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Coming soon in Reading Research Quarterly 💫
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
last month 15 amazing teachers came to manchester for a 2-day summer school on linguistic justice. it was taught by me and april baker-bell. here we are doing our summaries at the end of day 2. we're organising a summer school in detroit next year, and manchester again soon. 💜
August 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
last month 15 amazing teachers came to manchester for a 2-day summer school on linguistic justice. it was taught by me and april baker-bell. here we are doing our summaries at the end of day 2. we're organising a summer school in detroit next year, and manchester again soon. 💜
"Books are dangerous. This is why repressive regimes try to exile and kill those who write them, confiscate and close libraries and bookshops, and ban and burn books that contradict their narratives and the image they want to present to the outside world" www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
July 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"Books are dangerous. This is why repressive regimes try to exile and kill those who write them, confiscate and close libraries and bookshops, and ban and burn books that contradict their narratives and the image they want to present to the outside world" www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
it’s day 2 of our summer school for teachers on linguistic justice and April Baker-Bell is here in Manchester from Michigan to lead sessions on anti-Black linguistic racism and pro-Black language pedagogy 💫
July 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
it’s day 2 of our summer school for teachers on linguistic justice and April Baker-Bell is here in Manchester from Michigan to lead sessions on anti-Black linguistic racism and pro-Black language pedagogy 💫
the London Association for the Teaching of English conference is on Saturday 5 July and is all about oracy. i am giving keynote on oracy, deficit thinking, and linguistic in/justice 🌸 londonenglishteachers.com/about/forthc...
June 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
the London Association for the Teaching of English conference is on Saturday 5 July and is all about oracy. i am giving keynote on oracy, deficit thinking, and linguistic in/justice 🌸 londonenglishteachers.com/about/forthc...
20 teachers are at MMU for 2 days of a summer school on linguistic justice and they are amazing 💕
June 12, 2025 at 1:56 PM
20 teachers are at MMU for 2 days of a summer school on linguistic justice and they are amazing 💕
critical sociologists of education are here at MMU for a full day symposium of Ofsted and educational injustice
June 10, 2025 at 9:01 AM
critical sociologists of education are here at MMU for a full day symposium of Ofsted and educational injustice
in rainy London i just walked past the incredible New Beacon Books and the George Padmore Archive which sits above it, housing decades of materials of anti-racist resistance against white supremacist schooling 💕
June 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
in rainy London i just walked past the incredible New Beacon Books and the George Padmore Archive which sits above it, housing decades of materials of anti-racist resistance against white supremacist schooling 💕
velda gave me a lift to the station in her cargo bike 🙌
May 13, 2025 at 8:58 AM
velda gave me a lift to the station in her cargo bike 🙌
i am in beautiful Tallinn to give a keynote on linguistic justice in schools at the Estonian Association of Applied Linguistics conference 🌸
April 25, 2025 at 6:48 AM
i am in beautiful Tallinn to give a keynote on linguistic justice in schools at the Estonian Association of Applied Linguistics conference 🌸
nice shopping opps at Helsinki airport
April 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
nice shopping opps at Helsinki airport
now in an issue, still open access: my critique of 'oracy' as a concept and the deficit thinking at its roots, and how current oracy initiatives often rely on a flawed theory of social justice which seeks to remediate alleged linguistic deficiencies ⬇️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
April 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
now in an issue, still open access: my critique of 'oracy' as a concept and the deficit thinking at its roots, and how current oracy initiatives often rely on a flawed theory of social justice which seeks to remediate alleged linguistic deficiencies ⬇️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
am giving a talk at Goldsmith's on the 21 May on collaborating with teachers to design futures of linguistic justice in schools, it'll be fun and it's free 💜
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...
April 10, 2025 at 6:06 AM
am giving a talk at Goldsmith's on the 21 May on collaborating with teachers to design futures of linguistic justice in schools, it'll be fun and it's free 💜
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...
so, certain linguistic features get framed as imagined signs of misbehaviour. and teachers get positioned by policies to intervene, remediate, and discipline these supposed signs of deviance and deficiency. for example:
![A formal register is impersonal and often follows a prescriptive format. The speaker uses complete sentences, and avoids slang. (School #16)
We always display the ‘habits of excellence’ in lessons: ✓ Full sentences
✓ Standard English
✓ Presentation voice (School #14)
Pupils should not refer to other pupils using slang terms. Pupils should be encouraged to use their presentation voice when answering a question. (School #23)
The academy will [. . .] ask that all students answer questions in full sentences and use formal, academic English (not slang) when at school. (School #4)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fj74ii47m7cw32mank2fxg7g/bafkreib5ocgl52bsxhvxj4rn26lcdn3ug6ud5jmyirybuluudivtdqituy@jpeg)
March 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
so, certain linguistic features get framed as imagined signs of misbehaviour. and teachers get positioned by policies to intervene, remediate, and discipline these supposed signs of deviance and deficiency. for example:
in 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.
March 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
in 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.
what does ‘misbehaviour’ sound like? in new open access work i ask this question in the context of school discipline policies, looking at how ideologies of ‘im/proper language’ and ‘im/proper behaviour’ coalesce and get co-constructed with one another. doi.org/10.1080/0962...
March 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
what does ‘misbehaviour’ sound like? in new open access work i ask this question in the context of school discipline policies, looking at how ideologies of ‘im/proper language’ and ‘im/proper behaviour’ coalesce and get co-constructed with one another. doi.org/10.1080/0962...
it is really cool to be in Paris to present on my work with collaborations with teachers on struggles for linguistic justice in schools. such a great group of critical sociolinguists here 💕
March 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
it is really cool to be in Paris to present on my work with collaborations with teachers on struggles for linguistic justice in schools. such a great group of critical sociolinguists here 💕
across 563 school behaviour policies, i found that notions of 'misbehaviour' coalesce with a whole constellation of linguistic features. of course, these linguistic features are not empirically connected to 'misbehaviour', but they are strongly ideologically connected.
March 7, 2025 at 7:49 AM
across 563 school behaviour policies, i found that notions of 'misbehaviour' coalesce with a whole constellation of linguistic features. of course, these linguistic features are not empirically connected to 'misbehaviour', but they are strongly ideologically connected.
👂 How do school behaviour policies ‘hear’? How do they co-construct imagined signs of linguistic deficiency with misbehaviour? What does ‘misbehaviour’ sound like? i address these questions in new work coming soon in International Studies of Sociology of Education 💕
March 6, 2025 at 7:41 PM
👂 How do school behaviour policies ‘hear’? How do they co-construct imagined signs of linguistic deficiency with misbehaviour? What does ‘misbehaviour’ sound like? i address these questions in new work coming soon in International Studies of Sociology of Education 💕
in 1971, Bernard Coard's book exposed how 'Schools for the Educationally Subnormal' framed Black children as allegedly linguistically and intellectually deficient, and incapable of participating in mainstream education. its continued relevance means it should be compulsory reading for all teachers.
March 6, 2025 at 12:45 PM
in 1971, Bernard Coard's book exposed how 'Schools for the Educationally Subnormal' framed Black children as allegedly linguistically and intellectually deficient, and incapable of participating in mainstream education. its continued relevance means it should be compulsory reading for all teachers.