‘Speaking’ deficit into (or out of) existence: how language constrains classroom teachers’ knowledge about instructing diverse learners

This article explores the talk among novice teachers who participated in an inquiry project designed to rethink the instruction for their struggling students by drawing upon competence rather than deficiencies. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) based on theories of systemic functional linguistics and CDA provided tools to explore how their use of language afforded or constrained their efforts to better serve diverse learners in their urban elementary classrooms. The analysis indicates the power of normative and deficit discourses that continue to predominate within educational culture. It reflects on this analysis and discusses potential benefits of centralising language awareness and a social/critical lens to ongoing professional development.     

What English Counts as Writing Assessment? An Australian Move to Mainstream Critical Literacy

This article focuses on the demands of assessment tasks to address the question: What is entailed in becoming recognised as an accomplished student‐writer? In taking up this focus, the writers use authentic samples to show how tasks for assessing writing can be read as instantiations of particular approaches to English education. They investigate how the tasks inevitably draw on cultural knowledges as a primary resource and raise the issue of what is involved when writing assessment moves away, as it is doing in some Australian schools, from concerns with personal voice and individual growth to a socially critical, discourse‐oriented approach.