“Othering” in Elementary Social Studies: A Critical Analysis of Teacher Talk

• In Event: Researching the Humanities in PK-12 Classrooms

Abstract

This study draws attention to the language used by 4th and 5th grade teachers during social studies instruction in eight elementary classrooms in the Pacific Northwest. The segments of classroom interaction illustrate processes of Othering, whereby the teachers’ language use constructed representations of Native Americans, African Americans, women and other underrepresented groups. Findings reveal that regardless of their specialized ELL and cultural training, teachers’ instructional language maintained—consciously or unconsciously--dominant ideologies by portraying minority populations as the “Other.”

Authors

• Gisela Ernst-Slavit, Washington State University - Vancouver

• Michele Renate Mason, Washington State University - Vancouver