Conclusion

This chapter, as a conclusion to the volume, evokes the interconnectedness of agents, and the relation of our educational practices with our social world .ics The chapter also discusses the compatibility of the theories underpinning the discussions in the volume: Social Semiotics and Field Theory, as well as ethics. We explain that beyond a common reference to the term illusion, it is through agency that these theories connect. Both Social Semiotics/SFL and Bourdieu’s Field Theory (despite frequent interpretations of Bourdieu as determinist) consider the potential for individual agency and the possibility for change, through the ethical choices open to us in daily encounters, and this despite the weight of our habitus and of our semiotic practices or coding orientations. For both Bourdieu and social semioticians, the hope lies in our capacity to bring things to consciousness. Perhaps the main illusion we wanted to dispel in this volume is that of powerlessness. Our sphere of influence might be small: our peers, our leadership, our colleagues, our students but in any of our daily interactions in our own classrooms and with colleagues lies a possibility.