Student teachers’ indirect complaining in learning groups

Abstract

This article focuses on indirect complaining in teacher education. The phenomenon of complaining in educational situations has not been examined as a process before. In this study complaining was examined in naturally occurring learning group sessions, which were videotaped and analysed through Conversation Analysis (CA). The purpose of this study is to describe the beginning of complaints and find ways to handle situations including complaining. The data comprise 26 pedagogically focused discussions that included indirect complaining. These were categorized into four classes: discussions which produced accounts, advice‐giving discussions, discussions expressing different viewpoints, and discussions mainly expressing affiliation. Discussions in the first three categories can be seen as investigative: in these discussions student teachers produced explanations or new interpretations of complained situations, or gave advice to correct the complained situation. Hence, although complaining is defined as having at least two negative elements (there must be something wrong in the complained‐of situation, and the stance of the complainer towards it must be negative), there was also something positive in the processes of the discussions that included complaining, namely investigation. When the second turns of the discussions including indirect complaining were studied, it was observed that invitations to define the complained‐of situation seemed to engender investigative discussions, whereas like‐mindedness or further complaint as the second turn seemed to engender discussions expressing affiliation. An invitation to define the complained‐of situation is suggested as a tool for developing complaints into investigative discussions.

Keywords:

• complaining
• conversation analysis
• group discussion
• teacher education