ERIC Number: EJ832200
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-May
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1175-8708
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Available Date: N/A
Spinning out of Control: Dialogical Transactions in an English Classroom
Fecho, Bob; Amatucci, Kristi Bruce
English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v7 n1 p5-21 May 2008
Using the experiences of Andy, a working class adolescent exploring his gay identity, and the dialogical and transactional relationship he developed with Kristi, his senior-year English teacher, we argue that the teaching of reading and writing must be seen as more than the learning of discrete skills to enable future employment. On the contrary, all transactions with texts should be viewed as providing learners with a range of ways to scrutinize their lives and the lives of others. We suggest that by taking a transactional and dialogical stance on the teaching of English, teachers and learners become inquirers into and ongoing co-constructors of their individual and collective selves. Through dialogue with others, they simultaneously dialogue with themselves, becoming agents in the continuing formation of their many cultural lives. Specifically, we use the experiences described herein to show the unique and necessary presence of dialogical transactions in the lives of Andy and Kristi and the range of possibility and consequence these transactions provoked.
Descriptors: Working Class, English Teachers, Social Capital, Adolescents, Homosexuality, Vignettes, English Instruction, Models, Reader Text Relationship, Sexual Identity, Evaluation
Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research, University of Waikato. PB 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. Tel: +64-7-858-5171; Fax: +64-7-838-4712; e-mail: wmier@waikato.ac.nz; Web site: http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A