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Full-Text Articles in Education
Coherence, Contradiction And The Development Of School Science Identities, Stacy Olitsky, Linda Loman, Jessica Gardner, Markita Billups
Coherence, Contradiction And The Development Of School Science Identities, Stacy Olitsky, Linda Loman, Jessica Gardner, Markita Billups
Stacy Olitsky
This ethnographic study took place in a diverse eighth grade science classroom in an urban magnet school where students demonstrate significant variation in classroom achievement and participation. In this paper, we use an activity-theoretical framework to examine classroom events in order to identify and work toward reducing contradictions that can interfere with students developing positive school science identities. We discuss several contradictions for students in this classroom, including the conflicts between social and academic goals and the inconsistencies between science and math classes. We found that in situations where students could build and use social capital through learning science, they …
Facilitating Identity Formation, Group Membership, And Learning In Science Classrooms: What Can Be Learned From Out Of Field Teaching In An Urban School, Stacy Olitsky
Stacy Olitsky
This paper explores both the obstacles and the possibilities for students developing identities associated with science by engaging in solidarity-building classroom interactions. Data come from ethnographic research conducted in a diverse eighth-grade urban magnet school classroom in which the teacher taught out of field for part of the year. Contrary to expectations, more students participated and reported enjoying science when the teacher was out of field. Analysis of classroom interactions indicated that while in field, the teacher primarily engaged in “front stage” performances that hid her struggles with the material and accentuated students’ views of science as an elite status …
Identity, Interaction Ritual, And Students' Strategic Use Of Science Language, Stacy Olitsky
Identity, Interaction Ritual, And Students' Strategic Use Of Science Language, Stacy Olitsky
Stacy Olitsky
An important part of learning science is formulating ideas, debating explanations, and talking about science with others. Yet students may still avoid “talking science” in class even if they are familiar with the content knowledge. Drawing on data from an ethnographic study of an eighth-grade urban science classroom, I argue that students’ expressions of knowledge in science class can be considered a strategic move, or a choice, aimed at supporting identity claims and increasing the likelihood of engaging in successful interaction rituals characterized by entrainment and solidarity. The results of this study suggest that a student’s knowledge of the subject …