Abstract
This study examines teachers’ justifications for their student sorting decisions in two Israeli secondary schools. Combining descriptive statistics and micro-ethnographic discourse analysis of 281 audio-recorded discussions, the study offers a new perspective on tracking’s multiple social and organizational functions: providing students’ needs, rewarding and punishing students, satisfying teachers’ emotional needs, and efficiently using school resources. Most of the justifications were related to students’ needs (43%) and reciprocity issues (37%), with productivity justifications (20%) appearing less frequently. The study points in particular to teacher emotions as a key factor in the tension between formal sorting requirements and teachers’ sorting practices.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 543-555 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Discourse |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Discourse analysis
- equity
- justice perspectives
- teacher discourse
- tracking