It’s All Connected: How Teachers and Students Co-Construct Spaces and Figured Worlds through Literacy and Language Events and Practices DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christina Dawn Bragg Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Professor Caroline Clark, Advisor Professor Mollie Blackburn Professor Valerie Kinloch Copyrighted by Christina Dawn Bragg 2013 Abstract This dissertation uses discourse analysis and ethnographically informed qualitative research methods in order to answer these research questions: What happens when teachers and students from different neighborhoods and communities in Central County participate in literacy and language events and practices in an alternative humanities class? When, where and under what conditions do spaces/places become engaging and/or community generative learning environments? The study examines a half-day humanities program for high school juniors and seniors, which is known as Connect. Applying trialectical spatial theories (Lefebvre, 1974/1992) and Holland et al’s (1998) theory of figured worlds, the researcher analyzed classroom data in the form of field notes of classroom observations, audio and/or video recordings of classroom observations, classroom artifacts, Facebook postings to the Connect group page, and interviews with both teachers and 5 focal students. Findings include greater understanding into the ways that teachers’ and/or students’ conceptions and perceptions interact with one another across spaces in ways that co-construct not only classroom spaces but also the collective figured world of Connect, the ways that fields of privilege, such as those involving race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and/or schooling, interact in classroom spaces, and the ways in which Connect spaces were (or not) community generative and/or engaging. ii Acknowledgments This dissertation is about co-constructions, and I relied on many different people to help me complete this document. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the 2011-2012 Connect community who allowed me and my recording devices to spend the school year with you. Your energy, ideas, and questions pushed me to rethink my understandings of the processes of teaching, learning, and living. I am honored that I am now a member of the larger Connect community, and I look forward to all the future learning and successes for this ever-growing community of learners. I cannot express how invaluable my dissertation committee was to me throughout my doctoral program. Caroline Clark, my M.A. thesis advisor, enthusiastically suggested I consider returning to The Ohio State University when I decided to leave my high school social studies classroom to pursue a doctorate. She then warmly agreed to be my advisor when I decided to shift my doctoral focus to literacies after my first year of studies at Ohio State. Throughout our relationship, she has been a model to me of the kind of woman, teacher, and mentor I want to be. I am so grateful for her generous giving of constant support, thought-provoking questions and feedback, and precious time. She always seemed to know what I was feeling and what I needed to hear to continue moving forward in my journey. Thank you Caroline for all that you do. iii Mollie Blackburn and Valerie Kinloch both entered my life during Fall Quarter 2009, and I believe I would have quit my doctoral program without them. At a time in which I felt I did not belong in a doctoral program, Mollie and Valerie helped me to understand not only complex educational theories and processes but also how I myself might fit into the scholarly community where these theories and processes were created and articulated. I could write so much about each of you, but I know I have limited space. Thank you Mollie for always reminding me of my positive qualities while also supporting deeper thinking about my weaknesses. You made me feel that what I was thinking was valuable. To Valerie, thank you so much for creating and supporting our small community of female scholars, which we affectionately named the HAMs. You made educational theorists accessible to me, and your confidence in my success was infectious. Throughout my many years of education, I have been surrounded by a myriad of friends who have supported me with kind words and encouragement, shoulders on which to cry or laugh, and/or lengthy discussions about our lives and pursuits for deeper understandings. To all my friends in West Virginia, thank you all for keeping me a part of your lives despite the geographic distance between us over the last five years. To Becky Norman, thank you for helping through the graduate school adventure; I am so glad we stayed connected even after our M.A. theses were written and put away on the shelves. To my "newer" Ohio friends, thank you for everything. I know I cannot name every friend I have made while pursuing my Ph.D., but I would be remiss to not mention a few of you by name. To Bethany Vosburg-Bleum, you have been my rock throughout the doctoral program. You made me feel welcome before I even moved to Ohio, and you thankfully have not left me alone since I arrived! To Amy Heath, thank you for always iv including me in your writing groups. I am so grateful for our writing meetings as well as our discussions about health and yoga. To my fellow study mates, or HAMs, from Dr. Kinloch’s classes, you are all rockstars, and I am so blessed to have worked with each of you outside of the graduate classroom. I must take an extended moment to thank my proofreading friend Jereomy Schulz for his willingness to read most of my written doctoral work. Without your time and energy, many of my written pieces, including this one, would have had more grammatical errors. Our spirited discussions on various topics have helped me more deeply understand my own positions as well as others’ viewpoints. Thank you so much for your support, sharp eyes, and valuable feedback throughout the last five years. From the beginning of my life, my family encouraged me to participate in and learn from literacies. I am thankful for my parents, Tom and Rose Keefer, who loved and supported me throughout my life. My mom's insistence on a plethora of books in our home and my dad's weekly lap reading of the Sunday comics in my early life has led to my lifelong passion for literacies. Thank you to my brother, Charles, who always reminded me to do what makes me happiest while also unconditionally believing in my success. To my grandparents, Charlie and Doris, thank you for always being interested in what I was doing and where I was going even when I did not have answers to those questions. While they have not been with me from the beginning of my life, I would also like to thank my in-laws. To my mother-in-law Peggy, thank you for being so proud of me and confident in successes. To my niece, Lexi, and nephews, Donovan and Dorian, thank you for understanding why we had to move so far away and for your love and support while I wrote this "really long paper." v Last, but certainly not least, thank you to my husband Jeremy, who left his secure job in West Virginia so I could pursue my dream of obtaining a doctoral degree. I am forever grateful for your love and support. Thank you for pushing me to balance work with health and family; you have helped me become a better person. Without your insistence and sacrifices, I would not have finished this degree. Thank you! vi Vita 1999................................................................B.A. Social Studies Education, Marshall University 2000................................................................M.A. Reading Education, The Ohio State University 2001-2008 ......................................................Social Studies Teacher, Winfield High School, WV 2008 to 2011 ..................................................University Supervisor, The Ohio State University Publications Bragg, C. D. (2010). Profile: Mitsumasa Anno. In B.A. Lehman, E. B. Freeman, & P. L. Scharer (Eds.), Reading globally, K-8: Connecting students to the world through literature (118-119). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Merryfield, M., Badang, G., Bragg, C., Kvasov, A., Taylor, N., Waliaula, A., & Yamaguchi, M. (2012). Web resources for teaching about human rights. Social Education, 76(5), 275-277. Fields of Study Major Field: Education vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii Publications ....................................................................................................................... vii Fields of Study .................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Introduction to Connect .....................................................................................................