Suggests that philosopher Donald Davidson's interpretative principle of charity can help explain why communication is impoverished or even impossible in classrooms governed by traditional, authoritarian practices that form a "pedagogy of severity." Notes that teachers should promote a "pedagogy of charity," which assumes that…

Examines the ideas surrounding the teaching and learning of measurement estimation in the classroom. Focuses on two teachers' instruction during estimation lessons and on their pupils by employing ethnomethodologically informed conversation analysis. Indicates that estimation is understood as discursively interdependent with measurement and is…

This paper investigates teachers use of prior knowledge in whole class teaching contexts and draws on data from an ESRC-funded study. The paper explores how teachers conceptualise prior knowledge, principally as that which has been taught in school. It demonstrates strong teacher awareness of how the teaching under consideration fits with learning…

Letters from students, serve to enhance the insight toward students at a personal level while adding a familiar form and friendly voice to the classroom community. The biographical letter and study-skill letter are the two sets of students' letters discussed. It is found that one needs to know one's student better versus the time needed for this…

The study investigated variant and invariant physics teaching patterns across time and topics. It is assumed that the analysis perspective is decisive for identifying variant and invariant teaching patterns. Therefore, we focused on three perspectives: (1) organization of activities, (2) quality of teacher--student interactions, and (3) students'…

When children explain their answers to a problem, they convey their thoughts not only in speech but also in the gestures that accompany that speech. Teachers, when explaining problems to a child, also convey information in both speech and gesture. Thus, there is an undercurrent of conversation that takes place in gesture alongside the acknowledged…

In this article, the authors explore how the social dynamics in a reading and writing event influence "who children are" (e.g., good readers, non-readers, leaders). The authors explore how the presence of English language learners (ELL) affects the distribution of symbolic capital (i.e., who has high status and prestige) in classroom social…

Describes some of the misconceptions and confusions in metalinguistic understanding that are established by the teacher during whole-class teaching of the active and passive voice. Draws on findings from a larger study investigating how teachers use talk in whole-class settings to scaffold children's learning. (Author/VWL)

"White men are saving brown women from brown men." Gayatri Spivak suggests that this phrase is for her as fundamental for an investigation of colonial dynamics as Freud's formulation "a child is being beaten" was for his inquiry into sexuality. Through a deconstructive interrogation of elementary Hawaiian history textbooks, Hawaiian studies…

Gender studies show that women and men communicate using different styles, but may use either gender style if there are situational status differences. Considering the universal gesture of head nodding as a submissive form of expression, this study investigated head nodding by observing female and male college students in positions of subordinate…

In this paper we call into question the ontological assumptions within prominent, foundational critical pedagogy literature--particularly the work of Paulo Freire. We suggest that these ontological assumptions may limit critical educational efforts within multicultural communities, because they tacitly reduce our complex, contested classroom…

This article discusses the usefulness of anecdotes as a technique to stimulate learners' interest and thus create a meaningful learning context in the second language classroom. It describes the pattern of an anecdote and how it should be formed as well as the different types of anecdotes. The article offers tips to successfully implement this…

This article examines the communication barriers and relationships between hearing and non-hearing college students in a classroom setting. Twelve college students, six female and six males, between 18 and 22 years of age took part in this ethnographic study during a sixteen week course in public speaking, conducted at the University of Colorado,…

The author reports on perceptions of East Asian international graduate students (EAGS) regarding active classroom participation, as revealed through two focus group interviews with 15 EAGS at a large Midwestern research university in the U.S. The findings indicate that most EAGS shared similar views with their university instructors and American…

The paper problematises student writing as social practice from the perspective of lecturers' discursive practices. The paper uses data from a major study at a higher learning institution in Tanzania to explore lecturers' discursive practices and familiarity with the university orders of discourse including English medium of instruction, in…