In this paper we explore how "ability" is currently conceptualised in physical education and with what effects for different groups of young people. We interrogate approaches to theorising ability in physical education that draw on sociological and phenomenological "foundations" together with notions of ability as…

This paper reports on two critical incidents in the progress towards implementing a vernacular language programme in the village school at Aulua, Malakula, in Vanuatu. In stage one of the fieldwork, (2000-1) an orthography was created by a committee. An element of the second stage of the project (2004-5) was a workshop to create the primers and…

Viewing education as a complex site for endorsing and contesting knowledges and practices we explore its critical roles in feminist language planning. Many types of language planning have relied heavily on education for the implementation and spread of the particular reform agenda largely reliant on discourses of compulsory obligation (e.g.…

Managing organizations in modern societies takes place through persuasion and the seductive use of language rather than, as in past societies, through physical violence and repression. In this respect new management discourses imply a linguistic process where actors within education gradually become defined within other frames of reference. This…

In this paper, we explore how students used two resources, the in-class lecture and the online newsgroup, to write computer programs. By focusing on the questions students asked in each setting, we compare these two learning environments. Questions students asked during lecture typically related to the material the instructor was presenting. In…

This article examines students' narrative responses to reading professional literacy histories. Demonstrating the importance of narrative as a way of learning, it shows how elementary education majors of diverse backgrounds explore their relation with language in a traditional grammar class. Cajun, Creole, and African American students recover…

This paper is an essay on the discursive politics of education. Data from a small study, combined with a review of the related literature, suggest that the overarching concept "community" lacks coherence when used in online education. At least three contrasting forms of connection can be discerned: communion among participants, exchange…

This paper presents findings from the pattern of participation and discourse analysis of the online interaction among in-service teachers in the teacher training institute in Singapore. It was found that the teachers formed a knowledge-building community and jointly discussed issues related to integrating information technology into the classroom.…

In this paper, the author explores her experiences growing up of being defined as "different" due to her class background. The author uses the term "difference" to mean how the concept of the "other" is defined and understood in this society. The "other" in this instance are individuals or groups who have existed on the margins of the society;…

This study is concerned with evaluating critical learning of 10-11 year-old students studying global citizenship through an online discussion environment. The evaluation is based on analysing the use of language as both a social reasoning tool and cognitive learning tool. Evaluation methods use: (1) content analysis of the online discussion…

Online discourse environments are increasingly popular both in distance education contexts and as adjuncts to face-to-face learning. For many participants such contexts are experienced as positive, community-supported learning opportunities, but this is not the case for everyone. Understanding more about the online and off-line factors that…

Drawing from a six-month ethnographic study, this article explores the negotiation of gendered identities through classroom literacy practices in an urban high school, paying particular attention to how gendered identities are interwoven with those of race, class, and other social identities during literary discussions. I draw upon the notion that…

Using methods from conversation analysis, this microethnographic longitudinal case study traces the development of interactional competence which results from adult learners' socialization into literacy events in a modified Sustained Silent Reading (mSSR) program. The investigation focuses on two learners who participated in the mSSR program in an…

Research in the field of intergroup relations has developed considerably over the last two decades, influenced by events and by the historical zeitgeist. We suggest applying an interactional way of dealing with intergroup encounters, which emphasizes the situational macro-context (political, historical and social) in which the contact takes place.…

This paper reports a qualitative study on students' informal reasoning on a controversial socio-scientific issue. Twenty-two students from four science classes in Norway were interviewed about the local construction of new power lines and the possible increased risk of childhood leukaemia. The focus in the study is on what arguments the students…