Being “Loud”: Negotiating Intersecting Narratives of Race/Ethnicity, Class, Gender, and Achievement in Academic Contexts

• In Event: Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: Habits of Spoken or Written Discourse for Academic Success

Abstract

Focusing primarily on the narratives of 8th grade Latino/a and Black students within the context of a diverse selective middle school, this paper documents the tensions between conventions about what it takes to achieve academically and students’ minoritized, raced, classed, and gendered identities. This qualitative case study draws upon Holland and colleagues’ identities-in-practice theory to illustrate how being “loud”--a label students both resist and embrace--serves as a heuristic for the dynamic interrelatedness of students’ identities, experiences, and academic achievement. The purpose of this paper is to reframe current debates on the achievement of students of color as well as promote contextualized approaches to curriculum and pedagogy that serve minoritized students across broader educational settings.

Author

• Limarys Caraballo, Queens College - CUNY