Discourses of Othering in a Secondary Multicultural Literature Class in a Predominantly White School

• In Event: Learning in Diverse K–12 Settings: Exploring the Hidden Curriculum and Critical Disconnects

Abstract

This study explores how non-Muslim secondary students use othering language to position themselves in a multicultural literature course that is specifically designed to discuss critical issues related to discrimination and social justice. In the study, we focus on how white, American, non-Muslim students use othering language during a discussion of Islamophobia. More specifically, we use a discourse analysis approach to examine how students’ othering language reveals tensions between their personal beliefs and the social justice goals of the course. On-going preliminary analysis reveals that students in the class engaged in the othering of two primary groups: (a) Muslims and (b) Islamophobes.

Authors

• Andrea Mooney, Reading School District

• Calvin Berting

• Janet Welby

• MinJeong Kim