This article shares a paper presented as the keynote for the Terry L. Wood Memorial Conference that was held virtually on May 20, 2022. This paper starts with a reference to the project, The Coordination of a Psychological and Sociological Perspective, that was funded by the Spencer Foundation. The results of the research in this project are…

This paper introduces the LIDO, or the Low-Inference Discourse Observation tool, that captures discourse moves produced by students and teachers in whole-classroom discussions. Coding methods are described, followed by analyses that explore validity of the LIDO through correlations among LIDO-coded discourse moves and between LIDO scores and…

Understanding how learning environments productively mobilize children's ideas as resources for participation in joint activity is an ongoing focus of research on classroom instruction. We investigated whole-class mathematics conversations in which multiple students participated in ways previous research suggests are consequential for learning. We…

Bringing an awareness of emotions to the fore through mindfulness-based breathing and providing a space to discuss them is a way of promoting teacher and student agency in collectively developing structures specific to their learning environment. The authors explore students', teachers', and researchers' collective sensemaking through cogenerative…

In this article, the authors present an analysis of two views of culture reflected in equity scholarship and their implications on research and mathematics teaching. In doing so, they draw on two interrelated theoretical orientations to describe instructional practices that support equitable learning opportunities in mathematics classrooms. These…

Background: Teaching is comprised of interconnected practices. Some practices are domain neutral (DN), or independent of a content area. Examples of DN practices include emotional and instructional support and classroom organization. Others are domain specific (DS), or content dependent. Within a mathematics context, examples of DS practices…

Employing a social capital framework, this study investigates teachers' role in influencing the peer dynamics between English learners (ELs) and their non-EL peers. Participants include 713 students (211 EL students). Observed teacher-student interaction quality and teacher self-reports of their peer network management were used to operationalize…

Teaching middle school mathematics, I have found that classroom dynamics have a profound impact on the quality of mathematical discussion. Wanting to improve classroom discussion in order to better facilitate both small-group and student-driven learning, I started the school year by randomly grouping students every week for their small groups. I…

This article describes how one of the authors, second-grade teacher Lisa A. Brooks, challenged the raise-your-hand to-speak rule. Her desire to make this change was a result of experiences gained in a graduate class taught by the second author, Juli K. Dixon. Brooks had learned that it is possible to create a classroom community where students…

Supporting a productive discourse is an important element of reform teaching, as it gives students opportunities to understand mathematical reasoning. In this study, the practices of an expert seventh-grade mathematics teacher are described to illustrate how she created and sustained a genuine mathematical discourse environment during the teaching…

This paper explores the notion that the discourse of the mathematics classroom impacts on the practices that students engage when modelling mathematics. Using excerpts of a Year 12 student's report on modelling Newton's law of cooling, this paper argues that when students engage with the discourse of their mathematics classroom in a manner that…

In this study, we examined the instructional coherence in a Chinese mathematics classroom by analyzing a sequence of four videotaped lessons on the topic of fraction division. Our analysis focused on the characteristics of instructional coherence both within and across individual lessons. A framework was developed to focus on lesson instruction in…

When the author recently turned her attention to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) "Principles and Standards," she was startled to see communication as key. She adjusted her teaching to meet the NCTM Communication Standard and promote communication in her classroom by providing a safe environment, developing discourse and…

This paper discusses a teaching model called community of mathematical inquiry (CMI), characterized by dialogical and inquiry-driven communication and a dynamic structure of intertwined cognitive processes including distributed thinking, mathematical argumentation, integrated reasoning, conceptual transformation, internalization of critical…

The new EYFS (The Early Years Foundation Stage, DfES, 2007) reinforces that mathematical language and understanding should be developed through stories, songs, games and imaginative play; that practical activities should provide opportunities for children to practise and talk about their developing mathematical understanding. Despite a huge number…