HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM TEACHER TALK: THE BELIEF-DISCOURSE GAP

Abstract

Classroom language is powerful. It reflects a teacher’s intended lesson, cultural background, and belief system. Teacher language and all of the nuances associated with human communication can present information, encourage, discourage, and indoctrinate. How this language is interpreted by students impacts their learning and success, as the classroom teacher is pivotal in communicating the school’s expected outcomes for each student. Utilizing a mixed methods approach incorporating Hymes’ SPEAKING Model, designed as a tool to understand communication from a cultural standpoint, supplemented with a modified discourse analysis, this study focused on teacher talk. Four high school teachers’ classroom discourse was analyzed in light of their expressed beliefs about the students they teach and their work as teachers. The challenges of meeting both cognitive and affective needs of students, the impact of deficit thinking, and the power of discourse were addressed. This study revealed that a gap between teachers’ beliefs and their discourse may be creating barriers between presenting students with a curriculum that is more engaging and, believing that, when an engaging curriculum is presented, students will achieve at higher levels.