Representing the Middle East and Africa in Social Studies Education Teacher Discourse and Otherness

Representing the Middle East and Africa in Social Studies Education examines the lived classroom experiences of six social studies teachers and the relevance of their discourse in framing the knowledge students receive about populations in the Middle East and Africa. With a focus on the socialization processes of schooling, this book deconstructs the classroom experience and investigates the ways in which a macro-societal phenomenon—otherness—is reified in micro-societal interactions. Through the methodological lens of Critical Discourse Analysis, this work illuminates the importance of teachers’ language in challenging and reinforcing portrayals that cast the diverse populations of the Middle East and Africa in the role of "the other."

1 Introduction Part I Constructing Knowledge and Perceiving Others 2 Memories, Identities, and Otherness 3 Schools as Sites of Constructing Otherness Part II Teachers, Classroom Discourse, and Representations 4 Narratives in Classroom Discourse 5 Characterizing and Classifying Populations 6 Revealing and Concealing Diversity 7 Ascribing Traits and Describing Difference 8 Conclusion

Daniel Osborn is a history instructor at Dean College. He holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University School of Education.