Creating equitable spaces for all learners: Transforming classrooms through biography-driven instructional conversations

Abstract

This paper employs positive discourse analysis to explore the discourse practices of grade-level teachers at a diverse elementary school. It examines how discourse was used to invite and nurture learners’ willingness to share about and maximize the sociocultural and linguistic dimensions of their biographies. Two episodes of instructional conversation are used to illustrate how formal text properties of instructional conversations as well as social practices of the classroom influenced discourse and instantiated culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy. Among findings, the discourse was found to position students as knowledgeable and capable, with use of mediation tools and teachers’ situational responsiveness emerging as pivotal instructional practices. Results highlighted the benefits of biography-driven discourse for culturally and linguistically diverse learners and illustrated the potential of positive discourse analysis to advance social transformation.