Understanding Marginalized Students’ Identities Work and Their Learning Experiences in English Language Arts Classrooms

Students are affected by their social background, ethnic, geographic and cultural origin, languages spoken, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. Also affecting students are the more general social-political transformations (globalization, migration, changing labor markets, etc.) Whereas a lot of the social science literature in education has viewed these aspects of student identity and diversity as separate from each other, I aim to understand how these factors impact on student identities-work intersectionally, especially in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. In the referenced pilot study, I use Positioning Theory to analyze the discursive incidents around literacy learning in Texas. By analyzing students’ interactions, I begin to gain an understanding of student agentic movements and the marginalizing forces that strengthen or diminish a student’s response to learning.