The Social Construction of Personhood in a Career-Technical High School With The Taming of the Shrew

• In Event: Writing and Disciplinarity

Abstract

This study seeks to understand how a group of high school seniors in an English language arts class at a career-technical education (CTE) school in the United States socially construct personhood when the teacher uses literature to create space for students to explore power and personhood through the lens of the text. Using microethnographic discourse analysis of a focal event within a small group, student-led discussion centered around Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, this study helps us understand literacies in a workplace-oriented school and the role of English language arts in this type of space through an in-depth look at the complex dialogic work revolving around literature that the students construct together.

Author

• Suzanne G Lewis, The Ohio State University - Columbus