The Power of Classroom Examples: Performing Identity Through Participant Examples

• In Event: Classroom-Based Civic and Intersectional Identities

Abstract

Classroom examples figure importantly in teaching and learning, often serving as a pedagogical device for teachers to bring subject matter closer to students. A valuable pedagogical tool, classroom examples also create complexity for instruction. This study examines the functions of classroom examples through a lens of identity and discourse. Drawing on classroom interactions from one U.S. multilingual classroom, we analyze how the teacher and students performed identity through the examples they brought into classroom discourse. Taking up Wortham’s (1994, 2006) concept of participant example, we illustrate that classroom examples served a dual purpose of illuminating curriculum and displaying identity. This analysis underscores the importance of treating classroom examples with care to open up space for alternative ways of being.

Authors

• Kongji Qin, New York University

• Faythe Beauchemin, University of Arkansas