Mediating School-Related Ambivalence: Prolepsis in Student-Teacher Relations to Reimagine Social Futures

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: Cultural Historical Activity Theory Ecologies of Learning and Boundary Crossing: Reimagining Social Futures, Redefining Language and Ability, and Renegotiating Cultural Identities

Abstract

Unrecognized ambivalence may lead to students being labelled as “difficult,” or disconnected from learning and teaching, resulting in exclusion from full participation in schooling. When ambivalence is theorized, however, as an aspect of the student-teacher social relation, teachers are positioned to mediate ambivalence. Extending scholarship on joint imagining, we describe a qualitative study of the school experiences of youth in alternative programs through the concepts of ambivalence, prolepsis, and social futures. We argue that one method for mediating ambivalence is engaging students in a process of reflecting on past experiences in schools and re-imagining their social futures, including spaces, pedagogies, and curricula for learning and well-being. In this article, we review literature, describe methodology, discuss themes generated, and note conclusions.

Authors

• Natalia Panina-Beard, Univeristy of British Columbia

• Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, University of British Columbia