Critical talk moves in critical conversations: examining power and privilege in an English Language Arts classroom

ABSTRACT

Critical conversations take on heightened importance with current tensions about issues involving race, income inequality, sexual orientation, and gender identity, both locally and globally. These tensions demonstrate a dire need for classroom discussions about literature to serve as a space where youth engage in rigorous, critical conversations about institutionalised forms of privilege and oppression and learn how to act as agents of change. To address that need, this study explored how teacher talk moves shaped critical conversations in one U.S. secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. Findings illustrate that the teacher engaged in the following four families of critical talk moves to foster critical conversations: inquiry, inclusion, disruption, and action. Implications remind teachers that using critical talk moves to foster critical conversations involves the consistent practice of critical self-reflection, vulnerability, and knowledge about critical theories and pedagogies.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical conversations
• racial literacy
• critical literacy
• classroom discussion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported in this article was made possible (in part) by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (#201700139). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Amy Vetter

Dr. Amy Vetter is a professor in English education in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she teaches undergraduate courses in teaching practices and curriculum of English and literacy in the content area, and graduate courses in youth literacies, teacher research, and qualitative research design.Her areas of research are literacy and identity, critical conversations, and the writing lives of teens.

Melissa Schieble

Melissa Schieble is an associate professor of English education at Hunter College of the City University of New York. She is also a consortial faculty member in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research and teaching focus on critical and sociocultural perspectives on language and literacy, young adult literature, and discoure analysis.

Kahdeidra Monét Martin

Kahdeidra Monét Martin is a doctoral candidate in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research foci primarily orbit around adolescent literacy, the spectrum of urban education, social justice pedagogies, and sociolinguistics. Kahdeidra employs critical race theory, Black feminism, social capital, and translanguaging to understand the intersectional and transnational experiences of Black youth in schools and communities.