Neri,1

ErikNeri
MsHamby
UWRT1101Section28
October8th,2014
ThediscoursecommunityIhavechosentoobserveistheIB12thgradeEnglishclassat
NorthMecklenburgHighSchool.Thisdiscoursecommunityisverydiverseinraceandethnicity
buttheyareallapproximatelythesameage.Theyareallintheirlastyearofhighschoolbutthey
areallintheInternationalBaccalaureate(IB)Program.TheIBProgramisthemostrigorous
publicschoolacademicprograminthenation,anditstrivestobuildastrongacademic
foundationwhilealsogivingaheftycommunityservicerequirementtoteachstudentstolive
balancedandprioritizedlives.IwasoncepartofthiscommunityandIrecentlygraduatedfromit
thisJune.IchosetoobservethiscommunitybecauseIwasoncepartofitandIwanttoseehow
muchithaschangedsinceIleft.IwanttoseeifthereisstillaUnitmentalityamongstthe
community,becausewhenIwasstartingoutfreshmanyearinIB,IworkedwithmyfellowIB
classmatestodotheassignmentsandtogooutanddocommunityservicetogether.Therewasa
senseofcommonunityamongstthegroupfromninthtotwelfthgradebecausewewereaschool
withinabiggerschool.Nobodyoutsideoftheprogramwouldunderstandthecomplex
assignments/projectswewoulddo,andthereforethatseparatedusfromtherestofthestudents
whowereinnormalhonorsprograms.Wehadclasseswiththesamepeopleforallfouryears,
andthatmadeuscloserlikeafamilybecauseweallknewabouteachother.Iwanttoseeifthat
sameUnitMentalityisstillprevalentamongstthesestudents,thementalityofhelpingone
anothertogetthroughthetoughassignments,exams,projects,presentations,etc.

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Methodology
FormyresearchprocessIinterviewedaBoybythenameofLuke,whoisinhislastyear
ofhighschool(12thgrade)andlastyearofIB.IinterviewedhiminhislunchtimeonMonday
the6thofOctober.Iaskedhimgeneralquestionsabouthowhisyearhasbeen,intermsofschool
work.IalsoaskedhimhowwellhegetsalongwiththepeopleinhisIBclasses,whichhe
respondedwithadifferentanswerthanIhadanticipated.Hefeltverydistantfromhisclassmates
inIBandhefeltasifhewasanoutcastbecausehechosenottogofortheIBdiploma.His
feelingstowardsseveralpeoplewithintheprogramwerenotverypleasant.Hestillhadtodo
mostoftheworkhispeersweredoingbutwasexemptfromdoingafewverybigassignments
thatwerevitaltoreceivingtheIBdiploma,sothereforehewasnotrequiredtocompletethem.I
decidedtoobservethe12thgradeEnglishclassbecausethoseweregenerallythebiggerclasses
andtherewasalwaysplentyofchatteramongstpeers,andthatiswhatIwaslookingtoanalyze
andobserve.
Iwantedtoseewhattheyweretalkingaboutandhowtheyexpressedthemselves.Itook
notesandfocusedonaparticularconversationbetweentwogirlsaboutaparticularassignment
thatwasduethatday,andapparentlyitwassomethingtheyhadbeenworkingonforalongtime.
ThewayItooknoteswasverysimple,IwrotedownimportantbitsofalltheconversationsI
listenedtointomynotepad,andImostlylistenedtowhatwasbeingsaidallacrossthe
classroom.ItooktheflyonthewallstancebecauseIfeltlikethosesideconversationswould
bemoregenuineratherthanaconversationwithmeinvolved.Iwaslookingforgenuine
interactionamongstpeersintheclassandtakingtheflyonthewallapproachwasthemost

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efficientwayofgatheringthemostamountofinformation.Alsothismethoddoeshaveits
limitationsbecausewheneveryoneistalkingatthesametimeitisdifficulttofocusonwhat
peoplearesaying.SowhenIwouldtrytohearwhatagroupwassayingIwouldoftentimeshave
tomoveveryclosetothembecauseofhowloudtheclasswasattimes.Therewerealsosomany
conversationsgoingonthattherewasnowayIcouldwriteaboutallofthembutthatalsokeeps
thingsgenuineandunscriptedbecauseIwantedthestudentstojusttalkwhenevertheyfeltlikeit
andaboutwhatevertheyfeltlike.
SinceIwasoncepartofasimilardiscoursecommunityIfeltlikeIwaspartofthecommunity
andIcanwriteaboutitonadeeperlevel,sothefeelingofbeinganoutsiderhasnotbeena
problemforme.
Howeverthereisapartofthediscoursecommunitythatstillisnotavailabletome
becauseIamtechnicallyanoutsider,andthatisaprivateFacebookpagewhichisthereto
remindthemselvesaboutassignmentsandanythingimportantcomingupintheIBworldthatis
comingup.OurclassdidthesamethingandIassumeitissimilartotheFacebookpagewehad,
andtherewasfrequentusageofthepage,anditwasofgreatsourcetogoandlookattoseewhat
thehomeworkwasandwhatitwasabout.Sometimesiftherewereessaysdue,peoplewould
posttheirintroductionssopeoplewhowerehavingtroublestartingtheirpaperswouldhavesome
sortofbasistogooffof.Therewasasenseoftrueunityamongstthegroupbecausewewereall
theretryingtofulfillthesamegoals,andweallwantedthebestforeachother.Ihaveonlyheard
abouttheprivateFacebookpagethroughafewconversationsIheardintheclassroombutIhave
notseenmuchoftheactualpage,andthatiswhereIwilllookforthesamefeelingsofunitythat
IoncefeltwhenIlookedatmyclassIBFacebookpage.

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ThereisalsoaTwitterpagethatiscalledIBMemes,asignificantamountofstudents
intheIB12thgradefollowthispage.ThispagespurposeistogiveIBstudentsalookat
humorousinternetmemesonlydealingwithIBandallofitshardships.AgirlKymberli,from
theNorthMecklenburg12thgradeIBclassoftenretweetsmemesontoherownTwitterpage
forherownfollowerstosee.Thispagewasbeingdiscussedinclassbetweenagroupofstudents
sittingnexttoeachotherworkingtogetheronaprojectforEnglish.
TherewasalsoagroupoffourgirlsIsatnearthatweretalkingabouttheirshared
anxietiesaboutanupcomingBiologytest.ThiswasinterestingtohearaboutbecauseItookthat
sameclassayearago,andtheyhavethesameteacherIhad.Itooknotesonthehighlightsofthe
conversation,wheneverIheardanysupportiveornegativecommentsaboutthetest.Itriedto
writeabouttheiremotionswhiletheyweretalkingaboutthetest,becausestudentstendtorelease
trueemotionsaboutacertainteacherorassignmentwhentheyareoutsideofthatclassroom.The
emotionstypicallyfoundintheseconversationsare:anxiety,confusion,frustration,discontent,
oranythingofthatsort,andthatiswhatIwaslookingforwhenIsatnearthesegirlstoheartheir
conversation.
Analysis
ThepersonIinterviewedpreferredtoremainanonymous,andwasnotcomfortablewith
voicerecording.Howeverhedidgivemepermissiontotakenotesfromtheinterview.Thefirst
questionIaskedhimwashowmanystudentswereinhisgraduatingIBseniorclass.Hereplied
thattherewere65membersinhisIBseniorclass.HecheckedtheirprivateIBfacebookpageto
makesureitwascorrect.IthenaskedhimifhekneweveryoneofhisIBseniorclass.Hereplied
withsayingthathehadbeeninclasseswiththesepeopleforatleastthreeandhalfyearssohe

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feltlikeheknewthemwellenough.Healsomentionsthathehasbeeninclasseswithafewof
hispeersforsixyearsbecausetheIBprogramofficiallystartsin6thgrade,butmoststudents
enterin9thgrade.Thiswasimportantbecausepeoplewhohavebeentogetherforsolongtendto
knoweachotherbetterandhaveahigherchanceofbeingclosertoeachother.Ithenaskedhim
ifhisclassisunitedtogetthroughthisverytoughyearofIB.Hisresponsewasthatjustabout
everyoneinhisclasscollaboratestogether,exceptforfivepeoplewhoarenicepeoplebut
wouldratherworkbythemselves.IthenaskedhimabouttheprivateFacebookPagethathe
referredtoearlier,andaskedhimifIcouldcopydownaparticularpostwordforwordthat
wouldindicateevidenceofthediscoursecommunityhelpingeachotherout.
AfterreviewingasampleofaFacebookpostthatwaspostedearlierthismonthonthe
SeniorclassIBpage,therecanbeaconclusiondrawnfromthisthatthereisstillasenseofunity
amongsttheentireclass.IcouldonlyviewthepostthroughacellphonescreenbecauseIcould
notbeallowedintothefacebookgroup,becauseIwasnotpartoftheIBseniorclassof2015.
TheexactpostthatwaspostedwasbyCameronC.CansomeonepleaseproofreadmyEE?I
feellikeitmeetsalltherequirementsbutIjustneedotheropinions.Thanksinadvancein
responsetothatposttherewasacommentpostedabout30minuteslaterbyaStudentnamed
LilyS.sayingSurething,IhavesometimetokillsoIllgiveyousomefeedbackbytomorrow.
MyemailisL******@gmail.com.Anoutsideaudiencesuchasmyselfcanlookatthatpost
andcometoaconclusionthatthereisasenseofunityamongstatleastafewmembersofthe
community.Howeverthatisonlytwomembersofthecommunityandthatisnotenoughto
concludethatthereisacollectivesenseofunification/camaraderieamongstthe2015IBsenior
classatNorthMecklenburg.

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Lukethenfollowsthisupbysayingthatthereareplentyofpostslikethisthroughoutthe
entirefacebookpage.Thisleadsmetobelievethatthereisafeelingofunityamongstthe
discoursecommunity.Whenpeoplecometogethertohelpeachotheroutwiththeirproblemsis
whenacommunitytrulythrives.Iaskedhimiftherewereeveranyunansweredquestionsonthe
Facebookpage.Herespondedbysayingthattherewillalwaysbeafewthataremissedordonot
haveananswerforbutforthemostpartthepageisagreatresourceforextrasupport,andasign
oftruecamaraderieamongstthemembersoftheIBseniors.
IcontinuedbyaskinghimabouthowhefeltaboutknowingalltheabbreviationsthatIB
hasandifthatevergetsconfusing.Herespondedbysayingthatwhenhetalksabouthis
assignmentstoanyoneoutsideofIB,sayingthetermsheisusedtosayingtohisIBpeers,gets
confusingtoanyoneoutsidetheIBdiscoursecommunity.Forexample:The
abbreviation/acronymforExtendedEssayisEEanditisbasicallythemainresearchcomponent
thatisworth30%ofyourtotalIBgradethatpaperisstartedinthelastmonthsoftheirjunior
year,andperfectedandfinishedbyDecemberoftheirsenioryear.Itisahugedeal,andcauses
stressamongstallseriouslystrivingtogettheIBdiploma.