ABSTRACT
As the school year drew to a close, the tension in my relationship with Laura increased, and we developed a somewhat oppositional stance toward each other. Neither of us explicitly recognized or made reference to this tension, but it was present in my persistent attempts to portray Jay’s “emotional impairment/learning disability” as coconstructed and in Laura’s consistent responses which, through interrupting me, turning away, and refusing my invitations to meet outside of the classroom context, silenced my position. To acknowledge or listen to my interpretation meant seeing Jay differently, and to do this meant seeing herself and her classroom community differently.
