Abstract
Classroom work groups serve many pedagogical purposes. Here, we focus on their function as spaces to witness, name, and disrupt the processes by which micro-level interactions reflect macro-level inequalities. We use theory and research from small group processes as the foundation to understand the strategies that educators can employ to change how groups run in order to disrupt status-laden participation differentials between categories of students. We argue that modeling and normalizing different ways of being in small groups gives students perspective on how established procedures of interaction contribute to problems of hierarchy and hegemony. By implementing the findings of group processes research in their own learning environments, students participate in the minor adjustments to group interaction that can, if normalized, have an outsized impact on broader society.
Recommended Citation
McLeer, Jennifer and Shah, Vyoma
(2026)
"Disrupting Conversational Patterns in Classroom Discussion Groups,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 7:
Iss.
4, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol7/iss4/1