Discourses of Student Success

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES AND TRANSCRIPTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER 1: ENTERING THE WORLD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ITALY

Introduction

Getting to know Cittadina and finding my place in it

Gatekeeping at the three school field sites

The development of the modern-day Italian secondary school system (1859-present)

The contemporary tripartite Italian education system

"Lyceumization" and the "descending mobility reorientation"

Modern challenges for equitable education in Italy

Infrastructure

Logistics

Human Resources

Internationalization

Macro-level policy vs. micro-level practices

Research questions

Overview of chapters

CHAPTER 2: WHAT DOES AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE TELL US ABOUT SCHOOL AND SOCIETY?

Why this book?

Language ideologies and la questione della lingua

What does language use have to do with the social project of education?

Constructing the self and others in academic spaces

Performing academic knowledge

Collecting data for a linguistic ethnography of education

Getting to know the field sites

Observing everyday life in the three classrooms

Group interviews

Analyzing the data for a linguistic ethnography of education

Transcription

Collaborative playback sessions

Discourse analysis

Analysis of narrative

CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL PERSONAE AND SCHOOL CHOICE IN CITTADINA

Introduction

Representations of School Types Circulating via Social Media

Student Narratives of School Choice

The Technical School

The Vocational School

The Classical Lyceum

Discussion

CHAPTER 4: PUBLIC PERFORMANCES OF SCHOOLED KNOWLEDGE IN CITTADINA

Introduction

Data Presentation and Analysis

Interrogazione in Latin Class at the Classical Lyceum

Interrogazione in Mechanical Systems Class at the Technical Institute

Lab Sessions in Fashion Design at the Vocational School

Discussion

CHAPTER 5: PEER-TO-PEER PERFORMANCES OF EXPERTISE

Introduction

Ventriloquating "School Voice" in Language Play

"Outside Voice" for School Topics

Using "Nonstandard" Language Features to Talk about Schoolwork

Peer Commentary on the Surprise Performance of 'Good Student' Persona

Refusing to Accept Expert Positioning

Discussion: Underlife, Communicative Repertoire, and Double-Voicing in Peer-Peer Performances of Expertise

CHAPTER 6: EVERYDAY DEFINITIONS AND EVALUATIONS OF 'THE GOOD STUDENT' ACROSS THE THREE SCHOOLS

Introduction

Defining Evaluative Terms: "bravo" and "scolarizzato"

Uses of the Terms across the Three Schools

Examples of bravo used spontaneously in the classroom

Definitions of terms by teachers

Other Ways of Describing Students and Student Performance

When Casual Evaluations Become Formal Grades

Conclusions and Implications of Using Overdetermined Language in Student Evaluations

CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION

Overview

Revisiting the Research Questions

How are the student bodies of these three school types (co)constructed via narrative and metacommentary?

How do students perform knowledge for peers and teachers?

What does "success" look and sound like within and across the three school types?

Implications and Future Directions

Concluding Remarks