Making room for subjectification during classroom discussions

Making room for subjectification during classroom discussions A Conversation Analytic study of interactional practices in the Dutch language classroom

This dissertation examines classroom discussions in which Dutch language and literature teachers in secondary education make room for subjectification, one of the three educational functions of education. Subjectification concerns the emancipation and freedom of the student and the responsibility that comes with it. One way to introduce students to this freedom and responsibility is through conducting equal dialogues in which participants can present themselves as unique, independent individuals and in which encounters can take place.

By applying Conversation Analysis (CA) as a research method, this dissertation, consisting of four sub-studies, demonstrates that asking for opinions and experiences allows students to express themselves as subjects, and that the teacher’s response, after expressing an opinion or experience, is crucial for the emergence of a dialogue. It also becomes clear that moments when students take turns without being prompted lead to dialogical interaction. The results of this dissertation show that during such dialogical interactions, students mainly express opinions, which in turn provoke new opinions. It becomes clear that students often stick to their own perspectives and rarely ask questions on their own initiative. This means that if teachers want to work on subjectification, they should explicitly encourage students to understand and appreciate perspectives of others.

This dissertation thus provides both fundamental knowledge about stimulating dialogical interaction and practical insights for teachers who want to make room for subjectification during their lessons through conducting classroom discussions.

Dissertation: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/562bd05a-de43-4e5f-bf6d-ea29f0f183e3