This paper presents findings from a collaborative project on critical visual literacy in primary schools. In the project, we (a researcher and a teacher) implemented a series of picture book discussions with children in years 5 and 6. Our first aim was to develop the children's ability to analyse the visual images in picture books and how…

Scholarly interest in dialogic pedagogy and classroom dialogue is multi-disciplinary and draws on a variety of theoretical frameworks. On the positive side, this has produced a rich and varied body of research and evidence. However, in spite of a common interest in educational dialogue and learning through dialogue, cross-disciplinary engagement…

Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) has become an essential component of today's knowledge-based, innovation-centred economy and society. As such, communication and CPS are now considered critical 21st century skills and incorporated into educational practice, policy, and research. Despite general agreement that these are important skills, there…

This article argues that fiction can operate as a critical feminist curriculum and discusses how this manifests itself in terms of content and teaching methodologies. It uses a close reading of Naomi Alderman's dystopian fiction "The Power" (2016) to explore this, complemented by an analysis of a discussion between Alderman and readers…

Dialogue has been characterised as a communicative pattern that supports critical learning in education. Seeking to analyse this relationship, we investigated the interaction between teachers and students in two classes, a Third Grade and a Fifth Grade of São Paulo State public school. During the interaction, we identified a variety of dialogic…

This study explores the nature of classroom talk as a way of teaching physics implemented by newly trained teachers. Their training introduced them, among others, to sociocultural theory and the promotion of classroom talk as a deliberate teaching strategy. This study is framed by Mortimer and Scott's framework for productive classroom talk. Data…

Nationwide, women woodland owners are increasingly taking on the primary decision-making role for their land. In Wisconsin and beyond, most existing landowner outreach efforts target mixed-gender audiences. We explored how facilitation techniques can be incorporated into a women-centric workshop to increase women landowners' confidence, knowledge,…

"Early-Stage Interventions: Behavior Strategies for Every Teacher" offers a set of simple, teacher-friendly interventions to use as a starting place in addressing an individual student's chronic misbehavior-- disrespect, noncompliance, lack of motivation, bullying, aggression, and more. Though every teacher will encounter students who…

There has been recent interest in how the body can be used as a resource for learning challenging concepts in science and mathematics. This dissertation contributes to this conversation in the literature by focusing on a learning environment that engages students in using their bodies as a resource for learning a particularly challenging science…

In this article the author first defines high- quality text- based discussions. Then, he demonstrates how talk in the language of comfort meets the definition of high- quality discussion. Next, he illustrates how teachers can encourage and support students to discuss texts using their language of comfort. The examples of discussions come from two…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how exponential functions and patterns can be taught by well-structured lessons composed of classroom activities, mathematical questions, discussions, and solving problems. Sawyer (1943) used a rope-and-post system to introduce the concept of logarithms and to calculate a product by adding the…

Definitions are foundational to reasoning about mathematics. Students need opportunities to engage in the practice of defining instead of simply being given definitions (Kobiela and Lehrer 2015). This presents a challenge regarding how definitions should be introduced, developed, and used as students discuss and make sense of mathematics. The…

Comprehension is the overall goal of reading. One approach to help students increase their comprehension is to discuss a text in small-group settings. Yet, many students struggle to fully engage in meaningful discussions within these groups. Students' ability to retain and share what they read is one reason for this lack of discussion. Teaching…

The primary obstacle that can derail the effectiveness of a debate is one in which few students are involved and all of the energy and learning is limited to a few students. This leaves the majority of students passively absorbing information and does not encourage participation among those students that typically do not talk in class. This quick…

Extensive international research demonstrates that various forms of teacher collaboration can be one of several factors or activities that contribute to teacher learning. However, less is known about how and in what contexts learning can take place in the framework of a collective teacher role in contrast to an individual teacher role. Based on…