The authors present findings from a qualitative study of an experience that supports teacher candidates to use discourse analysis and positioning theory to analyze videos of their practice during student teaching. The research relies on the theoretical concept that learning to teach is an identity process. In particular, teachers construct and enact their identities during moment-to-moment interactions with students, colleagues, and parents. Using case study methods for data generation and analysis, the authors demonstrate how one participant used the analytic tools to trace whether and how she enacted her preferred teacher identities (facilitator and advocate) during student teaching. Implications suggest that using discourse analytic frameworks to analyze videos of instruction is a generative strategy for developing candidates’ interactional awareness that impacts student learning and the nature of classroom talk. Overall, these tools support novice teachers with the difficult task of becoming the teacher they desire to be.

Set in an undergraduate Secondary English Education Program, this qualitative study draws on theories of power, positioning, and identity to explore how positions of power affect teacher identity construction. Drawn from a larger study, the authors examine how one preservice teacher negotiated positions of power with students in ways that enabled and prohibited him from enacting his preferred teacher identities. In addition, the authors investigated how Jay engaged in reflection about those positions of power through a video analysis project that used discourse analysis and positioning theory. Ultimately, this study contributes to research in teacher education focused on how video analysis can be used to engage students in critical reflection about how positions of power affect teacher identities.

This research examined how preservice teachers in a university classroom used discourse analysis of video-recorded lessons to explore how identity markers such as race shaped classroom interactions. Findings from the study indicated that preservice teachers employed 10 different discursive strategies to engage in critical conversations. Identifying these discursive strategies offered insight into preservice teachers’ entry points for engaging in such dialogue. From that information, we offer potential narrative starters and questions that educators could use to deepen critical conversations in their English education courses.

No abstract

Purpose For writing instruction, reflection has been an essential tool. Typically, educators ask students to reflect in a structured written, individual format. Less explored is the role that small and whole group reflective conversations have in fostering students’ understandings about writing. The purpose of this paper is to explore several conversations from a young writers’ camp to examine how three high school students engaged in four different kinds of reflective talk during the writing process. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws from a larger qualitative study about how campers constructed and enacted their writer identities in a two-week young writers’ camp. Five researchers observed, video/audio recorded, engaged in interviews and collected artifacts with 58 campers for ten consecutive days. Qualitative analysis was used to examine how young writers (Grades 9-12) engaged in reflective talk to develop understandings about writing. Findings Data illustrated that students engaged in four types of reflective talk: prospective, reflective-in-action, introspective and retrospective. The paper provides one example for each kind of reflective conversation and provides analysis related to how those conversations shaped campers’ understandings about writing. Originality/value This paper illustrated how adolescent writers used prospective, reflective-in action, introspective and retrospective talk during conversations to tell their stories of learning about writing, a topic less studied in the field. This work offers insight into teaching students how to have such reflective conversations so that they are productive and supportive during writing practices.