Positioning theory
The theory describes malleable roles and storylines that determine the boundaries of future acts and the meanings of what people say and do.
The theory provides a framework to understand a person's specific behavior by considering social, individual, and moral factors.
[1] Since its inception, Positioning theory has been developed further with contributions from Bronwyn Davies, Rom Harré, Luk Van Langenhove, and Fathali Moghaddam.
They are open to change (compared to "roles" which are fixed) and constitute a basic foundation in helping an individual determine how to behave in a certain way.
"Positioning" pertains to the mechanisms by which roles are assigned, appropriated or denied;[2] it also involves the forms in which individuals build themselves and others through discursive activities, such as oral and written expression, usage of language, speech, and other actions based on normative and moral systems.
[4] Rom Harré and Fathali Moghaddam suggest that positioning theory adds to the work of earlier theorists like Lev Vygotsky.
[8] Positioning theory is explicitly consistent with Vygotskian approaches to learning and teaching, and is applicable to educational research with its emphasis on individual and social attributes.
[4] Vygotsky theorized that positive social support can lead to an individual attaining higher mental functioning.
[9] In Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD), a learner can increase their performance on tasks when given support by adults or when collaborating with their peers.
[14] Harré describes "position" as "a cluster of short-term disputable rights, obligations and duties" of a person in various social contexts.
An individual may be performing this action to jump over an object, follow a physical education instructor, exercise, or model the movement for another person to copy.
This action is only important if it is identified under rules for accepted moral or social behaviors, and given meaning under the context in which it is performed.
When an individual performs an action, they develop a personal moral order (e.g., justifying one's own behavior that one would otherwise deem as irresponsible or inappropriate).
These positions may be in the form of professor-student, parent-child, or grocery clerk-customer; a particular role results in an individual acting and responding in a certain way.
An example of this could be positioning oneself as "stupid", which might restrict that person from correcting their cognitive performance (pertaining to specific tasks) beyond a certain level.
This could also be positioning someone as "irresponsible", which could result in that individual being excluded by their social group from taking on tasks which would require a certain level of responsibility.
[13] Malignant or malevolent positioning is when the discourse about an individual causes others to portray that person in a negative light and treat them poorly as a result.
Bronwyn Davies, professor of education at the University of Western Sydney, drew from feminist scholars to expand upon subjectivity, storyline, and narrative in positioning theory.
[19] Subsequently, Rom Harré, Luk Van Langenhove, and Fathali Moghaddam contributed to development of the theory in its early stages.
