Use of non‐situational identities in teacher‐student interaction

Abstract

Instructional environments, including traditional classrooms, one-on-one teacher-student meetings, and writing centers, are complex learning spaces composed of multiple social, cultural, personal, interpersonal, and affective elements. Teacher-student interaction, therefore, is a multifaceted phenomenon, in which participants are likely to draw on various features of their identities above and beyond their institutionally assigned roles of teacher and student, such as those they have outside the institution. It is important to better understand the use of such personal identities in instructional interaction and explore their pedagogical possibilities. This study takes one step in this direction by examining how a writing instructor oriented to various aspects of her and her students’ non-situational identities (i.e., besides situated roles of teacher and student) while discussing students’ work in individual writing conferences. The detailed analysis of three interactional segments demonstrates various instructional situations in which non-situational identities were incorporated, including explaining a concept, providing an example, and relating to a student's concern. The study suggests that non-situational identities may indeed have pedagogical value in teacher-student interaction.