In this paper I presentmy research on teaching as conversational genres. Through ethnographicalstudies in the Swedish Upper Secondary School four different conversationalgenres within the teaching of literature have been identified: TheTeaching Examination, The Informal Book Talk, The Text Oriented Talk, and TheCulturally Oriented Talk. The presentation focuses how these conversationalgenres differ in patterns of interaction, literary content, cultural norms andeducational quality. Finally the students’ participation and resistance toparticipate in these conversational genres are discussed.