Talking about classroom talk

1
Talking about classroom talk

• Peter Freebody
• School of Education
• The University of Queensland
• Adelaide, August 5, 2005

2
The jobs a pedagogy has to do

• Manage the bodies and props
• Manage the attention of students
• Deliver the syllabus
• Allow for self-expression
• Protect all individuals
• Relate to individual differences
• Monitor students progress and .

3
Some starters

• Social interaction is the primordial means
  through which the business of the social world is
  transacted, the identities of the participants
  are affirmed or denied, and its cultures are
  transmitted, renewed, and modified. (Goodwin
  Heritage, 1990 283)
• Data about classroom interaction is not and
  cannot stand for classroom interaction data

4
So?

• theories, curriculums, syllabus guidelines etc
  tell us what educational phenomena are, and how
  they are done, supposedly in context-free terms
• participants knowledge of educational phenomena
  is mediated through interactions with other
  people and
• we simply dont know how somehow generically
  -- such mediations (re)define teaching and
  learning to teachers and learners

5
Some initial vocab

• Movesgtturnsgtexchangesgtphasesgtlessonsgtunitsgtsyllabu
  sgt
• Initiation-response-evaluation cycle
• Pre-re-post-formulations in and around the IRE
  cycle
• Accountable/portable knowledge (propositions and
  procedures)

6
An example

• T IF YOU MEET A DRAGON. This is actually a guide
  for what you will do if you will meet a dragon.
  If you meet a dragon. What's it tell us to do?
  Tickle his?
• S Back
• T Back, tickle his back\/. Tickle his?
• S Nose
• T Nose. What is the ending to that word?
• S 'e'
• T 'e' . What sort of an 'e' is it?
• Ss Bossy
• T Bossy 'e' or magic 'e'. In nose a bossy e
  says?
• TS(s) Say your name.
• T That's right, so it's noose. Noose,
  Tickle his nose. I know that you've been sick
  Jamie, but you need to concentrate, thanks.
  Tickle his?
• S Leg
• T Leg\/. Tickle his?
• S Toes
• T Toes\/. It's a rhyming book. So it's TICKLE HIS
  BACK, TICKLE HIS NOOOSE, TICKLE HIS LEG, TICKLE
  HIS TOES. TICKLE HIS TAIL, TICKLE HIS?
• ST Chin
• T CHIN, we've got three full-stops, that's
  telling us what will come next. I wonder. TICKLE
  HIS TAIL, TICKLE HIS CHEEK AND THAT WILL BE THE
  END OF HIM. So if you tickle him in all those
  places, you're going to calm him down. This time
  I'll read one page and you read one page, and
  we'll see who gets mucked up first. I'll do the
  first one. IF YOU MEET A DRAAGON. Your turn
  ((lesson continues))

7
And again

• T I want you to get your Maths Facts stuff. Noo
  get your teest books out please. We're going
  to have our times tables test.
• S Do you have to number them?
• T No, you don't have to number them, because I'm
  not going to tell you how many there are. Anyway
  you should know how many there are, because, how
  many times tables are there?
• S 12
• T Well then you should put down 12. That's why I
  was wondering when everyone kept on saying, Well
  how many, how many numbers do I have to write
  down? I was waiting for them to wake up. Have a
  good little think. Put up your hand if I have
  tricked you this time. You asked a silly question
  of how many do I have to write down. Yes?
• S Do I have to write down the sum?
• T No, you just write the answer. Will you keep
  your work very covered please? Right 3x4, 3x4,
  and I'm not going to go extra slow either. Number
  //2
• S //Ooh ((groan))
• T 3 x 6, 3x6, if you don't know it in about 4
  seconds you probably don't know it, full stop.
  Number 3 - 3 x 9 - 3 x 9, Number 4 - 3 x 2,
  Number 4 - 3 x 2. ((lesson continues))

8
The jobs a pedagogy has to do

• Manage the bodies and props
• Manage the attention of students
• Deliver the syllabus
• Allow for self-expression
• Protect all individuals
• Relate to individual differences
• Monitor students progress and .

9
Changing pedagogy means changing the ways
teachers and students relate

• to the knowledge
• to how domains of knowledge inter-relate
• to one another in their interactions.

10
Communities of practice?

• Communicational formats
• Varying the orientation to authority and
  knowledge
• Organising the relationship around the task
  around the knowledge

11
What the teachers foundand changed

• Pre- and post- framing Why this? Why this
  now? and Whats the goal? letting them in
  on the secret
• Regulatory talk cutting across the pedagogical
  line
• Too much what next? for thinking
• Limited range of literacy resources

12
Some leads

• ten Have, P. Methodological issues in
  conversation analysis. www.pscw.uva.nl/emca/mica.h
  tm.)
• Conversation Analysis materials
• http//www2.fmg.uva.nl/emca
• Methodological issues in CA http//www2.fmg.uva.nl
  /emca/Mica.htm
• Get started in CA page
• http//www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/ssca1/sitemenu.h
  tm