Sheena Shah

A Review of “Discourses and identities in contexts of educational change: contributions from the United States and Mexico”

Part of the Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education series, this current volume presents the work of 13 scholars based in the United States and Mexico, who use discourse and identity as conceptual tools to address contexts of educational change. Written for scholars and students with an interest in current educational issues, this book contains: ‘rich discussions of pedagogical paradigms, institutional change and constraints, knowledge construction, language access, bilingualism, bicultural policy, technological innovation and learning outside the classroom’ (p. xi). A Spanish edition of this book is also available: Discursos e identitades en contextos de cambio educativo, published by Plaza y Valdés-BUAP. The book begins with an introductory chapter by Lankshear, who gives a brief overview of the themes discussed in each of the chapters in the book, as well as some of the broader and bigger-picture ideas presented in the book. As suggested by Lankshear, this book could be read, ‘as a text that moves between forms of social research that speaks about questions of meaning, action and social order, on the one hand, and forms of educational inquiry undertaken with a view to contributing towards promoting better quality learning and more equitable academic achievement, on the other’ (p. 2). The book is organised around three expansive themes that strongly draw on its focus on educational change: (1) educational practices and identities, (2) literacy, youth cultures and virtual spaces, and (3) educational policies and professional identities. Each of these three themes is addressed by both North American and Mexican scholars, which enables the reader to obtain multiple insights and diverse perspectives into each topic. Section 1, entitled ‘Educational Practices and Identities’, consists of three chapters. Chapter 2 by Mehan, Khalil, and Morales explores how high-academic-achieving students of colour from low socio-economic status backgrounds negotiate the challenges of traversing two different and sometimes conflicting spaces: home and school. Based on 182 in-depth interviews, this paper adds to the dialogue on the poor academic performance of low-income students of colour reported in previous studies by revealing some of the institutional arrangements that contribute to their ability to cross the border between home and school cultures. Chapter 3 by Moje investigates the role that knowledge in action plays within the development of disciplinary discourses, literacies and identities. Through ‘an example from practice’ (p. 56) which focuses on teaching US immigration law throughout history to predominantly Latino/a Grade 11 students in a high school in Detroit, Michigan, she argues that taking on a disciplinary identity assumes that learners have certain types and degrees of knowledge which they often may, in fact, lack. Her research triggers the