The critical discourse analysis was conducted in the context of ethnographic data collected over two years in this classroom. Extensive field notes, interviews, audio and videotaped lessons and discussions, support the researcher's understandings of the transcripts analyzed for this paper and collections of student work.(Dutro et al., 2006)
Findings:
The findings are discussed over several pages where the researchers discuss how the students felt regarding various aspects of the survey they had taken. The particular part discussed in this analysis is where the researchers discuss the racial and ethnic designations that were printed on each child's copy of the district survey. Grace, who points to the printed categories to support her argument that race/ethnicity should not matter, first introduced the issue of racial/ethnic categories.
Limitations of the study include, conducting assessment at one school, in one state and city. Therefore, assessments may vary from area to area. The analysis shows that some opportunities to...
Those moments certainly emphasize the difficulties inherent in tackling such ideologically contested topics, particularly in a context in which power differentials had been subtly and not so subtly emphasized by the document being critiqued, leaving both students and teacher in a defensive stance. Ruth, a teacher who was very open to discussing both race and racism, seemed constrained by her own personal response and the teachers' collective response to the survey. The issue that resonated most strongly for her during the survey experience was that of privacy and the threat of personal accountability. Given that, this issue was also a key concern of the students, the issue of privacy was primary in the discussion. (Dutro et al., 2006)
Reference
Dutro, E., Kazemi, E., & Balf, R. (2006). About your color, that's personal: A critical discourse analysis of race and resistance in an urban elementary classroom. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, pp.1-33.
