#356: Fostering Student Agency Through Game Redesign: A Discourse Analysis of Teacher Positioning

This paper explores the complex dynamics of teacher-student interactions that arise when grade 7 students redesign a tabletop game as culturally sustaining pedagogy. Situated in a larger design-based research project and set against the backdrop of the 2022/2023 FIFA World Cup, this analysis focuses on one group of boys who leveraged their shared passion for football. Using positioning theory as the analytical lens, we examined how teachers’ discursive moves profoundly impacted students’ agency, collaboration, and engagement. The findings illustrate that by ceding conversational control and positioning students as experts, teachers can create more equitable learning environments where students feel empowered to draw upon their own identities and culture to drive their learning forward.