Applying a Critical Discourse Analysis to Reimagine Classroom Participation

• In Event: Research In Progress Roundtable Session 5
  In Invited Roundtable: Perspectives on Teacher Education: Curriculum, Learning Networks, and Racial Norms in Classroom Practice (Table 10)

Abstract

Three-turn sequences (Initiation-Response-Evaluation) are a classroom practice most teachers employ. Through a critical discourse analysis, I examine the interplay between language and learning by identifying three-turn sequences as a discursive tool teachers implement to either uphold or challenge white norms. This study took place within three segregated middle school classrooms. I analyzed classroom transcripts followed by interviewing teachers’ reflections on their pedagogical practices they implemented in the classroom recordings. The data explore how three-turn sequences resulted in a dialectical outcome, where dialogues evolved beyond the sequence’s boundaries or completely failed to be understood by all discursive parties. This analysis also demonstrates how students additionally leverage discursive floors to critically (dis)engage, in which students disengage to engage differently.

Author

• Jonathan Desmon Russell Pérez, The School of The New York Times