Interpreting the Interactions of the “Other”: Constructing Aboriginal Cultures in Conversations at and About School

Abstract

The extant literature suggests that the high rates of educational failure for aboriginal schoolchildren result from differences in the home and school interaction patterns. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the micro structures of classroom discursive interactions, and to examine those within and against the macro structures of discourse in the wider aboriginal community, and the discourses of the dominant cultures of Canada. One particular interaction, a conversational sequence, is recorded and analyzed from various cultural perspectives. Deconstructing these perspectives in terms of language and power relationships, the author suggests that, in urban classrooms, the cultural differences may be ideological constructions that serve the interests of both the aboriginal culture(s) and the dominant cultures of Canada.