Abstract

Based on recordings of naturalistic interaction, this study explores how a case of mundane whistleblowing unfolds in real time. In the analyzed recordings, a teacher instructs five students to engage in self- and peer-assessment. A few minutes into the session, one of the students indirectly accuses his peers of staging a cover-up. This whistleblowing action is analyzed in detail, but the main analytical focus is on the conversational strategies employed in response to it. These strategies — for example, emotional displays, the undermining of credibility, fabricated accusatory detailing, covert silencing, puzzle work, and threats — were used both to repair the potential damage of the whistleblowing and to punish the whistleblower. More overt and hostile strategies were used after the formal assessment was over and the teacher had left the students to themselves. Students’ participation in the studied type of activities can be seen to develop their capacity to transform social relationships, to broaden their notions of peer loyalty, and to enhance their sense of social structure.