ABSTRACT
We believe strongly that there exists an affinity between action research and explorations into issues involving literacy and gender. Perhaps because classroom teachers are closest to the everyday ways that the students they teach are “doing gender,” or perhaps because currently espoused theories are deemed inadequate by many teachers, even in the absence of a directive to do so, teacher-researchers frequently make gender a focus of their research. Not surprisingly, the illustrative account in a recent article on action research of one teacher’s “‘aha’ moment,” when she realized that research questions were all around her, involved language and gender. According to Power & Hubbard (1999), when Kelli Clark asked her students to assume the role of emperor towards the end of the demise of ancient Rome, and to write a decree that issued orders that would save the empire, she little expected what occurred. Although the class had discussed and role-played the use of authoritative language, Kelli recalled that when she read her students’ drafts, she discovered that:
Several students engaged in lengthy, grandiose descriptions of their personal authority and what might happen to their subjects if they did not comply with the decree. I read as the self-described “Supreme and Undaunted Ruler of the Universe,” “Leader of the Assassins,” and “John the Decapitator” blew up, savagely beat, and otherwise abused the unfortunate imaginary plebeians and patricians. As I began to wonder if I’d over-emphasized the authority issue, I started seeing papers that passively requested something be done. The Most Superior Being on Earth “suggested” that the people “do” something. The Ruler Most High said, “I think you should....” (35)
