title: A discursive approach to relationship practices in classrooms: An exploratory study

authors: Kecskemeti, Maria

subjects: behaviour management

abstract: In today’s increasingly diverse classrooms it is well accepted that the relationship practices employed by teachers have consequences for the quality of the learning environment. Well chosen relationship practices are thought not only to help teachers to manage their classes but they can contribute to achieving desired educational outcomes. The principles and processes of restorative practice (RP) are seen by many to offer a significant contribution to relationship practices in schools. One of the challenges of realising this potential is to adapt RP for daily classroom use. However, increasing heterogeneity in the student population makes the classroom a complex environment where teachers and students are likely to operate from a range of paradigms of relationship. This study proposes that a discursive conceptualisation of relational identity supports the development of more equitable relationships. It is argued that this then manifests in greater individual and communal well-being. The research involved the development of specific conversational moves adapted from narrative therapy, which were taught to 39 teachers in two schools through a series of four workshops. Following the workshops, a series of seven focus group meetings were held in which teachers engaged in a process of guided deconstructive reflection. The study set out to investigate the contributions of both the conversational moves and the reflective group practices to teachers’ capacity for relationship management (with both students and adults), teaching, and maintaining their own well-being. The focus groups had a triple function of skill practice, reflection and sharing concerns. The group discussions were audio-taped. Examples given by participants of the effects of using the conversational moves were documented. The teachers’ concern narratives were analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. The study suggests that the use of both discursive conversation practices and deconstructive reflection increased the participants’ capacity for dialogue and tolerating differences. Deconstructive readings of the teachers’ concern narratives identified teacher-student conflicts as a product of multiple positionings and confusion about their respective roles. Deconstructive analysis exposed a range of discourses of care, professionalism, pedagogy and gender as problematic, often placing teachers and students in opposition, and undermining teaching and learning. These findings suggest that systematic deconstructive reflection can usefully inform teachers’ relational strategies in the classroom. It can provide the opportunity for individual teachers to develop an understanding of themselves as teachers, and at the same time it offers useful appreciation of the discursive influences operating in the wider school culture. Some of these discourses deserve critical attention as they are central to the development of teachers’ professional identities. This thesis argues that a discursive approach to relationship practice can support the development of teachers’ capacity to manage the complexities of their work, and as such it is also restorative practice. This critical theoretical approach offers significant potential for explaining how a collaborative relationship paradigm can be understood, practised, and studied.

text: A discursive approach to relationship practices in classrooms: An exploratory study In today’s increasingly diverse classrooms it is well accepted that the relationship practices employed by teachers have consequences for the quality of the learning environment. Well chosen relationship practices are thought not only to help teachers to manage their classes but they can contribute to achieving desired educational outcomes. The principles and processes of restorative practice (RP) are seen by many to offer a significant contribution to relationship practices in schools. One of the challenges of realising this potential is to adapt RP for daily classroom use. However, increasing heterogeneity in the student population makes the classroom a complex environment where teachers and students are likely to operate from a range of paradigms of relationship. This study proposes that a discursive conceptualisation of relational identity supports the development of more equitable relationships. It is argued that this then manifests in greater individual and communal well-being. The research involved the development of specific conversational moves adapted from narrative therapy, which were taught to 39 teachers in two schools through a series of four workshops. Following the workshops, a series of seven focus group meetings were held in which teachers engaged in a process of guided deconstructive reflection. The study set out to investigate the contributions of both the conversational moves and the reflective group practices to teachers’ capacity for relationship management (with both students and adults), teaching, and maintaining their own well-being. The focus groups had a triple function of skill practice, reflection and sharing concerns. The group discussions were audio-taped. Examples given by participants of the effects of using the conversational moves were documented. The teachers’ concern narratives were analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. The study suggests that the use of both discursive conversation practices and deconstructive reflection increased the participants’ capacity for dialogue and tolerating differences. Deconstructive readings of the teachers’ concern narratives identified teacher-student conflicts as a product of multiple positionings and confusion about their respective roles. Deconstructive analysis exposed a range of discourses of care, professionalism, pedagogy and gender as problematic, often placing teachers and students in opposition, and undermining teaching and learning. These findings suggest that systematic deconstructive reflection can usefully inform teachers’ relational strategies in the classroom. It can provide the opportunity for individual teachers to develop an understanding of themselves as teachers, and at the same time it offers useful appreciation of the discursive influences operating in the wider school culture. Some of these discourses deserve critical attention as they are central to the development of teachers’ professional identities. This thesis argues that a discursive approach to relationship practice can support the development of teachers’ capacity to manage the complexities of their work, and as such it is also restorative practice. This critical theoretical approach offers significant potential for explaining how a collaborative relationship paradigm can be understood, practised, and studied.

year: 2011

title: Critical literacy as an approach to literary study in the multicultural, high-school classroom

authors: Locke, Terry

subjects: critical literacy

abstract: As an approach to literary study, critical literacy is not a widespread practice in New Zealand secondary schools. This article draws on a major project on teaching literature in the multicultural classroom that take place over two years in 2008-2009. In it we report on a case study where a Year 13 English teacher designed and tested a novel English programme with a reputedly less able and culturally diverse group of final-year students entitled “13 English – Popular Culture”. In it, she guided her students through a range of reading tasks aimed at developing in her students an awareness of ways in which texts position readers to take up certain meanings and not others through the language used. Over the course of the programme, students moved from compliant readers to readers who were sensitized to the manipulative power of texts. They enjoyed being exposed to a variety of theme-related texts, especially when these empowered them by enabling them to deploy their own cultural resources in responding to and challenging the texts they encountered. Students needed careful scaffolding in respect of metalinguistic understanding in order to be able to discuss the specific ways in which language constructs meaning. Indeed, these students struggled with this aspect of a critical literacy approach. However, despite the fact that these students were engaged in high-stakes assessment at a higher level than in the previous year, all gained more NCEA credits than they had in Year 12.

text: Critical literacy as an approach to literary study in the multicultural, high-school classroom As an approach to literary study, critical literacy is not a widespread practice in New Zealand secondary schools. This article draws on a major project on teaching literature in the multicultural classroom that take place over two years in 2008-2009. In it we report on a case study where a Year 13 English teacher designed and tested a novel English programme with a reputedly less able and culturally diverse group of final-year students entitled “13 English – Popular Culture”. In it, she guided her students through a range of reading tasks aimed at developing in her students an awareness of ways in which texts position readers to take up certain meanings and not others through the language used. Over the course of the programme, students moved from compliant readers to readers who were sensitized to the manipulative power of texts. They enjoyed being exposed to a variety of theme-related texts, especially when these empowered them by enabling them to deploy their own cultural resources in responding to and challenging the texts they encountered. Students needed careful scaffolding in respect of metalinguistic understanding in order to be able to discuss the specific ways in which language constructs meaning. Indeed, these students struggled with this aspect of a critical literacy approach. However, despite the fact that these students were engaged in high-stakes assessment at a higher level than in the previous year, all gained more NCEA credits than they had in Year 12.

year: 2011

title: Te Kōtiritiri, Te Kōtaratara

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

abstract: Haka. Lyrics composed by Te Kahautu Maxwell. Performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti (Kapa Haka group) (3mins)

Waiata ā Tira: Aroha
Whakaeke: Pinepine Te Kura, Hau Te Kura
Mōteatea: Te Ao o Te Pārerā
Waiata ā Ringa: E pā to reo, Te Matatini, Herewini Parata
Poi: E ia e ia
Haka: Te Kōtiritiri, Te Kōtaratara
Whakawātea: Ōranga Tōiti, tōnui kōrero

text: Te Kōtiritiri, Te Kōtaratara Haka. Lyrics composed by Te Kahautu Maxwell. Performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti (Kapa Haka group) (3mins)

Waiata ā Tira: Aroha
Whakaeke: Pinepine Te Kura, Hau Te Kura
Mōteatea: Te Ao o Te Pārerā
Waiata ā Ringa: E pā to reo, Te Matatini, Herewini Parata
Poi: E ia e ia
Haka: Te Kōtiritiri, Te Kōtaratara
Whakawātea: Ōranga Tōiti, tōnui kōrero

year: 2023-02-22