Communicative (Re)Production of Teacher Authority in a Generative AI-Infused and Gamified Multicultural Classroon: An Exchange ESL Teacher's Autoethnography

Abstract

Throughout the teaching-learning process, I have noticed how the act of communication shapes the ongoing practice of meaning-making among members in the classroom, especially within my regards to my identity as the classroom’s figure of authority. The classroom possesses a social order, created at the micro level through communication, headed by the authority of the teacher with the students as learners. With the encroachment of generative AI-infused technologies (GAI) however, this concept of teacher identity as authority within classroom social order has to be (re)created, maintained, repaired, and transformed (Craig, 1999) to accommodate new developments in space and time.

This study sought to explore how generative AI-infused educational technologies and gamification (re)produces the identity of the teacher as the authority in the multicultural classroom. It sought to answer the questions: (1) How has generative AI in a multicultural classroom threatened teachers' authority?; and (2) How does GAI and gamification integration in communicative practices (re)produce teacher authority in a multicultural classroom? This study made use of a qualitative research design, specifically autoethnography. Drawing from my lived experiences as a Filipino cultural exchange ESL teacher, I analyzed naturally-occurring data as situated descriptions of how my authority and identity are constructed through communication. Data was thematically organized using codes, sub-themes, and overarching themes related to GAI and gamification.

This study found that teacher authority has been threatened by GAI in four ways: (1) threatening self-image as a content expert; (2) tendency to outsource thinking with GAI; (3) challenging traditional teacher roles; and (4) weakening teacher authority. The study then found that teacher authority is (re)produced through five themes processes: (1) Creating fun and engaging lessons through data-driven decision making; (2) monitoring progress and motivating learners through pleasurable learning; (3) using gamification to improve student performance; (4) partnering with parents and tailoring lessons to fit learners’ needs; and (5) assessing learner’s progress and awarding performance. The idea that authority is enacted not merely through formal institutional structures but through active engagement with GAI and gamified strategies shape and legitimize the teacher’s central role emerged in the analysis, as well GAI’s role as a tool for reflexivity which (re)constructs the professional identity and pedagogical interventions of the teacher.