Magnet Moving and Materiality: Making Sense of Student Engagement Using the New Empiricism

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Research: Exploring Student Engagement and Motivation

Abstract

Bennett’s (2010) theory of vibrant materiality challenged researchers to give “the force of things more due” (p. viii). Barad (1995) argued for scientists to look closely at what happens between all actors in any given assemblage. Both acknowledged the importance of non-living matter in the meaning making process. Using theory of materiality and the new empiricism as a theoretical framework for thinking about classroom practice, the presenter discusses how considering her students, her teaching role, and the objects that take up classroom space informed her understanding of student engagement in a secondary language arts classroom.

Author

• Allisa Abraham Hall, University of Georgia