Students Being Teachers: Foucault’s Eventalization in an Authentic E-Learning Hybrid Course

In this article, I describe the development and teaching of an authentic e-learning hybrid English language arts (ELA) methods course that drew on Foucault’s (1984; 1991) concept of eventalization and Gee’s (1996; 2004) sociocultural theory of learning. Questions about what is worthwhile and who benefits guided the teacher-candidates’ (TCs’) quarter-long authentic learning project. They researched and developed online curricular modules and considered issues of pedagogy. As a self-study, I used discourse analysis (Gee, 2009) to analyze blog entries and TC weekly discussion board posts. TCs, working in collaboration, challenged taken-for-granted understandings of the ELA within a framework of identifying who benefits from particular theories and practices and what is worthwhile and why in ELA. They demonstrated an understanding of the complexity and ambiguity that defines ELA as contextualized practice. I conclude by considering how the course design facilitated TCs learning