Look What They Said about Us: Social Positioning Work of Adolescent Appalachians in English Class

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: [email protected]; Web site: http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1

Y

19

Adolescents; Rural Areas; Ethnography; Grade 12; High School Seniors; Cultural Influences; Social Attitudes; English; Language Arts; Audio Equipment; Interaction; Semi Structured Interviews; Coding; Student Attitudes; Political Issues; Student Behavior; Interpersonal Relationship; Classroom Communication; Writing Assignments; Social Bias

1175-8708

This paper discusses the social positioning work three Appalachian adolescents engaged in during two literacy events drawn from a year-long critical teacher-researcher ethnographic study in a twelfth-grade English class in a rural Appalachian high school. Data analysis indicates that in these literacy events, the focal students positioned themselves and their communities in relation to discourses on Appalachia for different social and political purposes. This study suggests that attending to the negotiations Appalachian adolescents make in relation to cultural discourses can better support critical, culturally sustaining academic curricula.

As Provided

40

2015

EJ1050184