| Classroom discussion of controversial issues plays an integral role in the project of democratic education. Yet, not every student participates---any remain silent. Not all that silence is equal; some is mandated, some is influenced by personality, some is reflective, and some indicates distraction, confusion, or fear. However, some of the silence stems from the positionality that describes power relations between individual students and the groups to which they belong, and especially of teachers themselves in relation to their students. Hence, silence is more functionally regarded in the plural---silences. As teachers recognize the issue of positionality, they can potentially understand and not just problematize the silences within their classrooms. This was an autoethnographic study in which I sought to appreciate, understand, and mitigate the student silences I experienced in contrast to classroom discussions of controversial issues by appreciating, understanding, and mitigating the effects of my own positionality. |
