High School Students’ Compositions of Ranch Designs

Abstract

This research analyzed the composing processes of two high school students designing horse ranch plans for a course in equine management and production. The investigation focused on understanding the problems driving the design process, the tools through which the students inscribed and encoded meaning in their compositions, and the integration, representation, and mediation of their emerging identities through the design process. The analysis revealed that the students solved problems suggested by the particular culture surrounding the production of a specific breed of horse and constructed unique problems based on their knowledge of horses and ranch facilities. The tools through which they constructed these texts suggested both the cultural dimensions and narrative inscriptions of their designs. The culturally mediated narratives in particular contributed to students’ construction of identities, especially with respect to their orientation as members of the managerial (Darin) and working (Riley) classes.