Malleability of Classroom Misbehavior among Black Boys

This article foregrounds the lived school experiences of young Black male students around classroom discipline inequities in an urban elementary classroom. The study documents teacher and student accounts of classroom disciplinary moments as they unfold in real time. Using the Interpretive Meaning-Making Process framework to help teachers and students deconstruct their thinking during instances of classroom conflicts, findings reveal that classroom disciplinary moments are negotiable, malleable, and ubiquitous notions that greatly vary. The results shed new insights into the situated nature of classroom misbehavior. The Interpretive Meaning-Making Process framework can be used as a pedagogical and methodological tool in helping teachers to develop a greater sense of awareness of their practices. Suggestions for effective classroom strategies to address the complexities of school discipline are also offered.