Many times, families, and in particular parents, do not discuss important issues of sex with their children. Children learn about sex-related topics from their friends, other family members, or media sources. In such instances, while children at least may be learning about sex, the accuracy of the sources from which they are obtaining information…

The article described a framework for analyzing the discourse of the classroom. It highlights the differences between traditional classroom discussions and discourse within learning communities.

This study replicated and extended Wanzer, Frymier, Wojtaszczyk, and Smith's (2006) preliminary typology of appropriate and inappropriate teacher humor and advanced three explanations for differences in interpretations of teacher humor. Students were more likely to view teacher humor as inappropriate when it was perceived as offensive and when it…

Classroom conversations designed to foster mutual understanding encourage students to listen in a way that is receptive, open, and self-eclipsing. Such an emphasis on tolerance makes these conversations vulnerable to relativism and cynicism. I argue that dialogical philosophical inquiry diminishes such threats, as it fosters mutual appreciation of…

The importance of mathematical discourse and its connection to developing conceptual understanding, communication, and reasoning is well documented throughout the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM's) "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000). This article highlights the differences between two kinds of discussions:…

In this article, the authors question the assumption that interactive whiteboards (IWBs) automatically lead to interactive teaching. The authors contend that although IWBs have features that offer great potential for the development of highly interactive teaching approaches, it may be the case that teachers must have made the transition from…

The perspective of situated learning offers a theoretical framework for understanding the dialectical relations between the social and the individual dimensions of classroom microculture. The purpose of this article is to show how sociomathematical norms constructed during whole-class discussions provide a reference for the elaboration of…

In a significant work, "Metaphor in educational discourse", Cameron has suggested that we study metaphor as "prosaics" (i.e. as a feature of mundane talk). In this paper, by means of some brief examples, we point to instances of such talk in the setting of preschool. We also discuss opportunities for learning that such talk could offer children,…

This study explores a child's emergent second language (L2) interactional competence during her first year in a Swedish immersion classroom. Within the theoretical framework of situated learning, it focuses on how she acquires expertise in a specific classroom practice: multiparty classroom talk. The data cover three periods (the early, middle,…

This study examines the feasibility of using the "Porch Index of Communicative Ability in Children" (PICAC), a standardized test of general communication, as an out-of-setting school discourse evaluation tool. The rationale for considering the PICAC was based on the expectation that the test creates a teaching-learning context where…

This account of my extended conversation with a high school mathematics class focuses on voice and agency. As an investigation of possibilities opened up by introducing mathematics students to what Fairclough (1992) called "critical language awareness" (p. 2), I prompted the students daily to become ever more aware of their language practices in…

Modeling is a core practice in science and a central part of scientific literacy. We present theoretical and empirical motivation for a learning progression for scientific modeling that aims to make the practice accessible and meaningful for learners. We define scientific modeling as including the elements of the practice (constructing, using,…

Classroom observations are an important source of information about teaching and about the practice of particular teachers. The paper considers the value placed on talk as opposed to silence in this context and suggests that a cultural bias towards talk means that silence is commonly perceived negatively. The paper is based on a qualitative…

Through the use of a case study, this article explores the role of talk in underprepared students' acquisition of academic discourse. Conversation analysis as a linguistic framework is used to examine the interactions of students participating in a small writing group. Tracing the progress of one student's paper, I explore how students'…

The use of PowerPoint (PPT)-based lectures in business classes is prevalent, yet it remains empirically understudied in business education research. The authors investigate whether students in the contemporary business classroom view PPT as a novel stimulus and whether these perceptions of novelty are related to students' self-assessment of…