Discourses of Student Success

Andrea R. Leone-Pizzighella is a discourse analyst with an interest in the interplay of academic register and youth voices in adolescents’ socialization to participate in schooling. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019.

• LIST OF FIGURESLIST OF TABLES AND TRANSCRIPTSACKNOWLEDGMENTSABSTRACTCHAPTER 1: ENTERING THE WORLD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ITALYIntroductionGetting to know Cittadina and finding my place in itGatekeeping at the three school field sitesThe development of the modern-day Italian secondary school system (1859–present)The contemporary tripartite Italian education system"Lyceumization" and the "descending mobility reorientation"Modern challenges for equitable education in ItalyInfrastructureLogisticsHuman ResourcesInternationalizationMacro-level policy vs. micro-level practicesResearch questionsOverview of chaptersCHAPTER 2: WHAT DOES AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE TELL US ABOUT SCHOOL AND SOCIETY?Why this book?Language ideologies and la questione della linguaWhat does language use have to do with the social project of education?Constructing the self and others in academic spacesPerforming academic knowledgeCollecting data for a linguistic ethnography of educationGetting to know the field sitesObserving everyday life in the three classroomsGroup interviewsAnalyzing the data for a linguistic ethnography of educationTranscriptionCollaborative playback sessionsDiscourse analysisAnalysis of narrativeCHAPTER 3: SOCIAL PERSONAE AND SCHOOL CHOICE IN CITTADINAIntroductionRepresentations of School Types Circulating via Social MediaStudent Narratives of School ChoiceThe Technical SchoolThe Vocational SchoolThe Classical LyceumDiscussionCHAPTER 4: PUBLIC PERFORMANCES OF SCHOOLED KNOWLEDGE IN CITTADINA IntroductionData Presentation and AnalysisInterrogazione in Latin Class at the Classical LyceumInterrogazione in Mechanical Systems Class at the Technical InstituteLab Sessions in Fashion Design at the Vocational SchoolDiscussionCHAPTER 5: PEER-TO-PEER PERFORMANCES OF EXPERTISEIntroductionVentriloquating "School Voice" in Language Play"Outside Voice" for School TopicsUsing "Nonstandard" Language Features to Talk about SchoolworkPeer Commentary on the Surprise Performance of ‘Good Student’ PersonaRefusing to Accept Expert PositioningDiscussion: Underlife, Communicative Repertoire, and Double-Voicing in Peer-Peer Performances of ExpertiseCHAPTER 6: EVERYDAY DEFINITIONS AND EVALUATIONS OF ‘THE GOOD STUDENT’ ACROSS THE THREE SCHOOLS IntroductionDefining Evaluative Terms: "bravo" and "scolarizzato"Uses of the Terms across the Three SchoolsExamples of bravo used spontaneously in the classroomDefinitions of terms by teachersOther Ways of Describing Students and Student Performance When Casual Evaluations Become Formal Grades Conclusions and Implications of Using Overdetermined Language in Student EvaluationsCHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONOverviewRevisiting the Research QuestionsHow are the student bodies of these three school types (co)constructed via narrative and metacommentary?How do students perform knowledge for peers and teachers?What does "success" look and sound like within and across the three school types?Implications and Future DirectionsConcluding Remarks