Drawing on sequential and multimodal analysis of video-recorded classroom interactions, the paper examines in detail the interactional practices and verbal and bodily displays that serve to (re-)establish a congruency between the teacher's expectation with regard to the participants' relative knowledge and the students' actual knowledge claims. By…

In this paper we consider how mathematics instruction that values, attends to, and builds on students' mathematical ideas is realized through discourse. We describe interactions that build on students' thinking and in which students help to determine the direction of mathematics lessons as responsive. Using a framework we developed to characterize…

Providing students with a classroom environment that allows for meaningful learning experiences is important for students to develop deep and long lasting understanding about mathematics. This article adds to the literature on learning environments in mathematics by presenting a case study of one fifth-grade mathematics teacher and her classroom…

Is it feasible to hold concurrent, small-group, peer-managed discussions in large elementary school classes? We sought an initial answer to this question in a fifth-grade class in Hefei, China. The 52 students in the class were divided into seven small groups. The seven groups held four simultaneous discussions without immediate supervision or…

There has been growing interest in linking the learning of Science with the literacies of Science and representations. Recent attention has been focused on learning theories that emphasise the socio-cultural and situated aspects of learning, and in particular the notion of learning as participation in a discourse community. This paper will…