Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: expected power patterns signaled ways in which the literacy curriculum may not have worked for all students at all times, why that may have been the case, and how those performances affected performing academic identities.Ways that students performed for certain audiences also signaled reasons why students performed certain identities.The complexities of text and context, of intertextual and intercontextual work and understandings, also offered some insight into possibilities for fostering academic identities.Thus, the findings of this study surround the themes of identity performances that subverted or interrupted power patterns, the influence of audience on identity performances, and how academic identities were fostered through explicit intertextuality and intercontextuality.I conclude with demonstrating how all three of the themes discussed in the findings have implications for teachers, research, and theory.vAcknowledgements Several years ago when I first entered my Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University, I had no real concept of the amount of work, struggles, joys, and instances of being completely humbled I would face.I could have never completed this journey without the support of many people, and I am in complete awe and gratitude of these people in all that they know and were willing to do to support me through this process.I fully realize that there is little I can do to repay them, but it is with great humility that I at least attempt to acknowledge their support.I would like to thank the student and adult participants at Ridgehill High School.I learned so very much from each person and could never repay you for what you taught me throughout the study.Thank you for your willingness to allow me to speak with you and to share with me your time and knowledge about how you see and do literacy work.I would also like to thank the administration of Ridgehill for allowing me access and supporting my work.My dissertation committee has taught, influenced, guided, challenged and encouraged me throughout this process.Each has played an irreplaceable role in helping me through this work.I would never have made it through this work without my advisor, Mollie Blackburn.You knew when and how to push me when I did not know how to push myself further, and you also knew when and how to support me when I was lost or fragile.You believed in this project because I believed in this project, and you constantly vi guided me through my own thinking while asking me to draw from bodies of research rather than asking me to conform to others" ideas.I left every meeting with you feeling a sense of "I can" even when I had entered completely deflated and at the brink of abandoning some of the work I needed to do in order to get to this point.From meetings in which you guided me through a maze of confusion, to ones in which tissues were necessary, your mixture of support, encouragement, and patience is the reason I was able to do this work.Words cannot express my gratitude for all that you have done for me.Caroline Clark was a terrific source of encouragement and influence.You were there at the very beginning to listen to my first academic presentation and to speak with me about why this project mattered, encouraging me to stick with my passion surrounding this work.Throughout my studies at OSU, you were a consummate teacher.Your mixture of intellect and tenderness is incredibly inspiring.You helped me to see and to put into words what I struggled to do on my own, and you challenged me to reconsider and puzzle through my own notions surrounding text and literacy/ies, and you thus made this work so much stronger and scholarly than it otherwise might have been.I truly respect and deeply appreciate all you have done to challenge and support me throughout this process.Dr. Valerie Kinloch has influenced me throughout my coursework and the dissertation writing process.Throughout my coursework with you, I was always in awe of how you could make complex theories and research accessible and interesting.You allowed me to apply what you taught in ways that were meaningful to me and my research interests.You impress me with your enthusiasm as a teacher and your passion for working with youth.I have learned so much from you in terms of how I can teach vii adolescents by learning from them.Throughout this study, you have listened to me and helped me develop my research while pushing me to extend my ideas, be more careful in my writing, and to make my analysis more complex.I appreciate your support and guidance.My mother, Mary Schweitzer, and my father, Paul Schweitzer, are my constant guides.You both inspired me with your own examples of life-long learning.To go back and to complete Masters degrees while working full time and raising seven children, who are also all sources of encouragement and support to me, is nothing short of miraculous.Thank you for pushing me to pursue education as a career focus and for supporting me throughout all of my work.Mom, I especially need to thank you for all of the long hours you put into reading nearly every draft of this study.Not many people can say that their mother was their chief dissertation editor, but I valued all of your edits, your thoughtful feedback, your patience, and most importantly, your time!I am proud that I am your namesake.I would also like to thank my grandma, Alma Schweitzer.I have learned and am still learning so much from you and your experiences throughout your 93 years.Thank you for all that you have taught me and all of the ways you have supported me.Thank you also for hosting me throughout my many months of data collection.I appreciated all of our talks and all of the ways you allowed me to think through my work with you.You mean the world to me.I have been lucky to have many colleagues who have listened to me speak about my work, have helped me challenge my ideas and have read and
Author: Mary Beth Ressler
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2596802476