Exploring the Interactional Construction of Teachers' Beliefs Using Conversation and Discourse Analysis

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Educators’ Language Ideologies, Beliefs, and Critical Language Awareness

Abstract

Beliefs have been important to teacher education since the late 1960s and a significant body of research exists that describes the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their experiences in teacher education programs. But, how does interaction within these programs contribute to the construction of teachers’ beliefs? This paper reports findings from a set of teacher interviews collected as part of a larger study on teachers’ belief construction. By using conversation and discourse analysis, I identified interactional patterns in the ways that participants constructed their beliefs about ELL students (e.g., storytelling, membership categorization). Patterns suggest teachers work to accountably justify their beliefs, and highlight some of the ways that teachers wield claims to belief in talking about their practice.

Author

• Amber N. Warren, University of Nevada - Reno