Examining the Coconstruction of a Science Student Role

• In Event: Roundtable Session 112
  In Roundtable Session: Learning Science

Abstract

The study takes the perspective that the idea of a science student role is central to the negotiation and creation of identities in science. It acts as a boundary object between individuals facilitating communication about the self in science and also constraining behaviour and identification. The role, while fulfilling these structural outcomes, is at the same time co-constructed by the participants in their interactions, both in the moment and over time. This study engages a sociolinguistic framework of footing, positioning and voice to interrogate the connections between interactions and role in a fifth and sixth-grade science classroom, finding that despite the teacher’s efforts to challenge them, conventional role definitions are embedded in the interactions that he has with students.

Author

• Marie-Claire Shanahan, University of Alberta