Conflicts and Diversity

Ann Johns talks about how discourse communities are so often focused on what people have in common in those groups; language, practices, values, and genres. Most overlook the fact that there are conflicts within discourse communities. It can take a while to be initiated into a discourse community, and even once in people can rebel and try to change things. In the discourse community of history professors, there is not usually rebellion, but there are sometimes changes that need to be made with new trends that come along. A recent new trend that could cause potential conflict within the discourse community is the shift from focusing on gathering mass amounts of knowledge to focusing on the psychology behind students learning. This can cause a rift between newer and older professors. The older ones will already be fossilized in their way of teaching, and the newer ones will be trying to implement new methods.