Sun, Miao

English

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Cultural Diversity and Discourse Practices in Grade 9.Lynne Wiltse.Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007, 309 pages.Reviewed by Miao SunUniversity of AlbertaThis qualitative case study presents an in-depth examination of the “Com-munity of Practice” in a culturally and linguistically diverse grade 9 languagearts classroom in an inner-city school in Western Canada. From the communityof practice perspective, Wiltse investigates the student-student and student-teacher relationships in this particular junior high classroom. Drawing onsociocultural theory in language and literacy research, Wiltse highlights issuesrelated to the social nature of teaching and learning; describes the intersectionsof ethnicity, culture, sex, class, and identity in the Communities of Practice;offers pedagogical implications for teachers in increasingly diverse Canadianclassrooms; and provides insights for conducting classroom ethnographic re-search.Cummins’ (1996) argument that “human relationships are at the heart ofschooling” (p. 4) is explicitly stated as her research orientation at the beginningof the book. From the social constructivist perspective, Wiltse uses Lave andWenger’s concepts of community of practice and legitimate peripheral par-ticipation as the guiding principle to examine learning as participation in thesocial world rather than learning in isolation, and to examine learners’ sharedmembership in the community rather than their individual language-learningsituations. Wiltse’s theoretical framework on the sociocultural literature alsoincludes Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Vygotsky’s and Bakhtin’s theories onlanguage and learning, and theories on socially situated identities.Using ethnographic methods and narrative process, Wiltse focuses on 11 ofthe students and their teachers in a grade 9 language arts classroom in amulticultural urban school over the course of one school year. The communityof practice under study is examined in two main phases. In the first half of theresearch, Wiltse describes the social practices, discourse practices, and identitypractices that emerged in this classroom and explores how these practices hadbeen influenced by the community of practice. She found that the social rela-tions in this classroom both facilitated and constrained the participation ofclassroom members. Both students’ learning and teachers’ teaching wereshaped by the community of practice. In the second half of the book, Wiltsediscusses the changes that occurred when community practices were disruptedin varied ways by group work, newcomers, and a carnival event. On the oneside, the study shows that “disrupting the community practices made theestablished practices more visible” (p. 185). On the other side, the researchillustrates that the community of practice was in “continual construction, con-tinual change, continual refinement” (Eckert, 2000, cited on p. 203).Miao Sun is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Elementary Education, Faculty ofEducation. She is majoring in language and literacy education.Book Reviews485In her book, which is derived from her award-winning doctoral disserta-tion, Wiltse outlines her research purposes through a focus on her theoretical,pedagogical, and methodological intentions. I use these three perspectives todiscuss the contributions this book makes to wider scholarship and pedagogy.Theoretical ContributionAs Wiltse points out, the community of practice perspective she uses as hertheoretical framework is sometimes limiting in interpreting the data. There-fore, she suggests that her study offers possibilities for improving a communityof practice framework in two main aspects. First, although there are studiesthat use a community of practice framework, and studies that focus on adoles-cents in culturally and linguistically diverse classroom settings, she claimsthere are currently no studies that consider both these factors. Wiltse notes,“My research extends the C of P framework by focusing on the specific social,discourse and identity practices in a classroom community of adolescents” (p.249). Second, based on the findings of the study, Wiltse argues that we need toextend the community of practice framework by incorporating Vygotsky’sconcept of scaffolding in order to use the community of practice frameworkmore effectively in conducting classroom research.Another interesting and unique feature of this study is that the usual socialarrangements in Canadian society are inverted in the community of practice ofthis grade 9 classroom. According to Wiltse, much of the literature on race andracism that she reviewed focuses on Black/White relations, and such studieswere conducted in a context where the students of majority culture in schoolare also members of the external dominant society. In the context of this study,however, the majority of the students are of Asian heritage, and there is noBlack/White relation. Because the “customary majority/minority cultureswere inverted” (p. 71) in this classroom, the minority becomes the majority; thewhite students are marginal to the community of practice, and they feel like theoutsiders of the classroom community. Therefore, the study conducted in thisnontypical classroom setting extends our understanding of a community ofpractice framework because it is “beyond the paradigms of Black/White racerelations and majority/minority cultures” (Pon, 2000, cited on p. 71).Pedagogical ContributionFrom Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem,” Wiltse borrows the expressions oflight in the cracks and uses them as the metaphors throughout her study. Theoral discourse practices in this grade 9 classroom are described by Emily (thelanguage arts teacher in the study) as “getting these students to talk was likepulling teeth” (p. 88). This like-pulling-teeth issue is originally considered asone of the cracks in the study, and later brings Wiltse valuable research insightsand helps her offer significant pedagogical implications. Wiltse discusses whyEmily rarely initiated classroom discussion in her teaching although sheclaimed that she was interested in classroom dialogue and enjoyed teachingthrough dialogue. The study findings demonstrate that both students’ learningand teachers’ practice can be shaped by the community of practice. The role ofthe teacher in disrupting classroom practices that limit students’ participationis also explored. Wiltse argues for “finding a middle ground, where studentsand teacher scripts could meet and merge” (p. 253) in classroom practice andE. Hamdon and M. Sun486constructing this “dialogue in the third space” by providing appropriate scaf-folding to the students. Wiltse also suggests incorporating “hybrid literacypractices” in multilingual contexts.By examining the complex intersections of ethnicity, culture, sex, class,identity, language background, and patterns of scholastic underachievementin the communities of practice in this grade 9 classroom, Wiltse contributes tothe discussion of “why children from some minority groups fail in school at adisproportionate rate as compared to children from the ‘mainstream,’ middle-class white culture” (Gee, 1992, p. 255). This discussion is of particular impor-tance for teachers and researchers in increasingly diverse Canadian schools.Methodological ContributionThe author discusses some of the challenges in conducting classroom eth-nographic research. One of the methodological implications Wiltse offers is“living with the cracks.” Wiltse uses the word crack to describe the limitationsin the study, and in demonstrating her research process, she explains how shebegins with being frustrated by the cracks, then makes efforts to fix thesecracks, then accepts the cracks, becomes fascinated by some cracks, and gainsinsights from discovering light in the cracks. The following quotes illustrate theprocess that Wiltse went through to “live with the cracks.”“Rather, there was very little student-teacher dialogue and almost no teach-er-whole class discussion … At the time, I consider this absence be one more‘crack’ in my already flawed research project” (p. 92). “At this point of myresearch, still very concerned about the ‘cracks’ within my research, I waslooking for something to miraculously ’fix’ my flawed research project” (p.214). “I came to realize, though, that in order to let the light in, it is necessary tohave new ideas” (p. 231). “When I let go of the original conception for what mystudy ‘should’ accomplish, I realized that much light had seeped through thecracks” (p. 54). “I let go of my unrealistic vision of the perfect research projectlong ago. I actually found myself embracing imperfection. I looked for anddiscovered light in the cracks. I learned an incredible amount” (p. 239).As a graduate student in the process of learning how to conduct educationalresearch, I found myself learning a great deal from Wiltse’s research experi-ence, especially from how she considers the limitations and imperfections ofher research study, makes adjustment, and uses these limitations to discovervaluable insights for her research. I agree with Wiltse that “making the processexplicit could be of value to others” (p. 265). Wiltse helps me understand Ely etal.’s statement “the process is the product” (1997, cited on p. 265) andHalliday’s (2002) argument that the process might be even more productivethan the product.It cannot be entirely clear whether the publication of a paper enables ordisables productive dialogue. Nor can it be clear whether the process ofresearch is more productive than the production of a research report or set ofprinciples or not engaging in research at all. (p. 55)Wiltse claims that one unsolved crack in the study is that the research sheconducted was not collaborative, and thus “there was no direct benefit for theteacher and students” (p. 242). For various reasons Wiltse could not conductcollaborative research with the classroom teacher. Had the study been con-Book Reviews487ducted collaboratively with the classroom teacher as co-participant and co-con-structor rather than “object of research” (Gutierrez & Larson 1994, pp. 241-242),I believe that even more valuable pedagogical implications would have beendiscovered and more direct benefits would have been brought to this grade 9language arts classroom.As an insider of Asian culture, I am amazed by the significant amount ofAsian cultural interpretation Wiltse provides in her study. Some of the inter-pretations are relevant to my own cultural understanding. In this study most ofthe students are of Asian heritage, and the issue of ethnicity/culture influencesalmost every aspect of the research. As a cultural outsider, Wiltse made greatefforts to interpret the data related to cultural influence, including recursiveinterviews with students and teachers, talking with the cultural insiders, andconsulting and revisiting the literature. I am impressed by the careful observa-tion and analysis Wiltse conducted in this research. She did not ignore anyminor information emerging from the data, and most of the minor informationturned out to be important points in this research. Several times Wiltse expres-ses a similar feeling: “Perhaps I am splitting hairs, but I think this may be worthmentioning” (p. 70). I gained many valuable insights from reading this bookinto how to conduct qualitative ethnographic research in classroom settings.Rather than offering the absolute truth, the study leads the reader throughthe complex research process that Wiltse completed and provides valuableinsights into understanding the community of practice in classroom teachingand learning. I believe that Wiltse’s book is useful and relevant for graduatestudents, teachers, and researchers. It is a great example of ethnographic re-search conducted in a classroom setting. It makes significant contributions tothe study of social interaction in our increasingly diverse Canadian classrooms.ReferenceHalliday, J. (2002). Research values in education. British Education Research Journal, 28(1), 49-62.E. Hamdon and M. Sun488

Cultural Diversity and Discourse Practices in Grade 9 by Lynne Wiltse

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