Artigo Revisado por pares

Unmuted: The racial politics of silent classrooms

2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 53; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03626784.2023.2274983

ISSN

1467-873X

Autores

Antía González Ben,

Tópico(s)

Communication in Education and Healthcare

Resumo

Instructional resources often assume that students learn best when they have access to a quiet environment. This article interrogates silence's presumed objectivity and innocuousness as the sonic backdrop for schooling. I argue that norms and expectations around silence in schools in the United States (US) inscribe a sonic color line. Such standards codify white, middle-class ways of sounding as an indicator of rationality. Simultaneously, they construct other ways of being sonically, particularly those traditionally associated with Black cultural norms, as generally unfit for school. The sanctioning of silent comportment in schools likely affects the academic achievement and sense of belonging of students whose sonic cultures differ from the schools'.

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