EDUC2029 Week 8

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EDUC2029 Week 8

• Analysing classroom interactions an introduction

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Anticipatory set

• Nominalize the following
• Harrys parents had died in Voldemorts attack,
  but Harry had escaped with his lightning scar,
  and somehow Voldemorts powers had been
  destroyed.
• (adapted from Rowling 1998)

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Anticipatory set

• Possible answers
• Harrys parents had died in Voldemorts attack
• The death of Harrys parents in Voldemorts
  attack
• Harry had escaped with his lightning scar
• Harrys escape with his lightning scar
• and somehow Voldemorts powers had been
  destroyed.
• The destruction of Voldemorts powers

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Anticipatory set

• Two consequences elide actor opens space for
  evaluation.
• The tragic death of Harrys parents in
  Voldemorts attack
• Harrys miraculous escape with his lightning scar
• The unexpected destruction of Voldemorts powers

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Aims

• To review nominalization
• To review the first assignment
• To clarify requirements for the second assignment
• To introduce the analysis of classroom
  interactions

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Outline of session

• Feedback on assignment 1
• Tips for assignment 2
• Classroom interaction
• Conclusion

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Feedback on assignment 1
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Feedback on assignment 1

• Read the question carefully, e.g. you were
  required to synthesise ideas from four different
  documents
• Identify core issues, e.g. multiliteracies and
  Four Resources Model in Section One
• Be precise and systematic (e.g. Four Resouces
  Model to structure Question 2)
• Question 3 link to personal experience/needs??

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Feedback on assignment 1

• In-text referencing
• may require a wider construct of literacy
  (Edwards and Potts 2008).
• Reference list
• http//www.library.uq.edu.au/services/referencing
  .html
• Editing and proofreading, in particular sentence
  structure

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Tips for assignment 2
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Tips for assignment 2

• Use the Fairclough model
• Start in any box
• Tutorial modelling assignment

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Faircloughs dimension of discourse and discourse
analysis
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Faircloughs dimension of discourse and discourse
analysis
Explanation why is it this way? (social analysis)
Interpretation what does it all mean?
(processing analysis)
Description what does it look like? (text
analysis)
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Approval for policy text

• If you havent done so yet, make sure you show me
  what you are planning to use.

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Classroom interactions

• A Guided Reading of Anstey

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Guided reading of Anstey 2003

• Why bother? Become a better teacher!!
• Culican (n.d.) My research so far indicates
  that working with teachers on analysis of lesson
  transcripts is both a useful analytic and
  generative process for my research and also a
  useful pedagogic process for teachers
• Note summary on first page
• Changing Views of Literacy
• Literacy as a social practice
• Literacy is not neutral
• Literacy constructs our world and we are
  constructed by it

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From Chapter 8 The Potions Master

• Professor Severus Snape is addressing a class for
  the first time You are here to learn the subtle
  science and exact art of potion-making, he
  began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper,
  but they caught every word like Professor
  McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class
  silent without effort. As there is little
  foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly
  believe this is magic. I dont expect you will
  really understand the beauty of the soft
  simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the
  delicate power of liquids that creep through
  human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the
  sensesI can teach you how to bottle fame, brew
  glory, even stopper death if you arent as big
  a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to
  teach.

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From Chapter 8 The Potions MasterMood

• Potter! said Snape suddenly. What would I get
  if I added powdered root of asphodel to an
  infusion of wormwood?
• Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?
  Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he
  was Hermiones hand had shot into the air.
• I dont know, sir, said Harry.
• Snapes lip curled into a sneer.
• Tut, tut fame clearly isnt everything.
• He ignored Hermiones hand.
• Lets try again, Potter, where would you look if
  I told you to find me a bezoar?
• I dont know, sir.
• Thought you wouldnt open a book before coming,
  eh, Potter?

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From Chapter 8 The Potions Master

• Snape was still ignoring Hermiones quivering
  hand.
• What is the difference, Potter, between
  monkshood and wolfsbane?
• At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching
  towards the dungeon ceiling.
• I dont know, said Harry quietly. I think
  Hermione does, though, why dont you try her?
• A few people laughed Harry caught Seamuss eye
  and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not
  pleased.
• Sit down, he snapped at Hermione. For your
  information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a
  sleeping potion so powerful etc etc

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From Chapter 8 The Potions Master

• Literacy as a social practice
• Children and adults using language to negotiate
  relationships and knowledge
• Literacy is not neutral
• Snape is not just asking questions hes also
  establishing power and solidarity
• These have a basis in a number of factors related
  to generation, gender, ethnicity, capacity and
  class
• Literacy constructs our world and we are
  constructed by it
• Potions matter
• A world of insiders and outsiders

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Analysing classroom discourse

• classroom discourse mostly consists of question
  and answer sequences called an Exchange IRF
  or IRE structure
• Initiation (by the teacher, usually in the form
  of a question)
• Response (by the student)
• Feedback (by the teacher) also called
  Evaluation

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IRE/IRF structure

• Potter! said Snape suddenly. What would I get
  if I added powdered root of asphodel to an
  infusion of wormwood? (Initiation)
• Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?
  Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he
  was Hermiones hand had shot into the air.
• I dont know, sir, said Harry. (Response)
• Snapes lip curled into a sneer.
• Tut, tut fame clearly isnt everything.
  (Feedback/Evaluation)
• He ignored Hermiones hand.
• Lets try again, Potter, where would you look if
  I told you to find me a bezoar? (Initiation)
• I dont know, sir. (Response)
• Thought you wouldnt open a book before coming,
  eh, Potter? (Feedback/Evaluation)

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Closer look at Initiation

• Potter! said Snape suddenly. What would I get
  if I added powdered root of asphodel to an
  infusion of wormwood? (Initiation)
• Real question
• Pseudo question
• Direct request (manage)
• Indirect request (manage)
• Initiate direct request (discipline)
• Indirect request (discipline)
• Informative
• Expressive

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Closer look at response

• Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?
  Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he
  was Hermiones hand had shot into the air.
• I dont know, sir, said Harry. (Response)
• Reply
• React (verbal and non-verbal)
• Repeat
• Reinitiate

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Closer look at Feedback/Evaluation

• Snapes lip curled into a sneer.
• Tut, tut fame clearly isnt everything.
  (Feedback/Evaluation)
• Accept
• Praise
• Comment
• Repeat
• Correct
• Elaborate
• Paraphrase

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Questions re IRE

1. Did my initiating questions and statements
   contain enough information to direct students in
   the task?
2. Did I ask a lot of pseudo questions (questions
   that did not require an answer)?
3. When giving feedback did I simply accept an
   answer or did I provide praise and/or feedback?

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Influence of classroom discourse on literary
learning

• What constitutes knowledge and learning what
  constitutes literacy and literate practice?
• How discourse can influence understanding about
  what constitutes knowledge and learning
• How discourse can influence understanding about
  literacy and literate practice
• How social and cultural aspects of discourse can
  influence participation in learning
• How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
  learning
• Role of question and answer exchanges
• Managing the function of classroom discourse and
  learning
• Maintaining the focus of discourse on the
  learning objective
• Discourse around an imaginary learning context
• Lesson Phases
• Patterns can advantage and disadvantage

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Lens metaphor
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How discourse can influence understanding about
what constitutes knowledge and learning

• Propositional knowledge knowing about
• Procedural knowledge knowing how to do
  something when the need arises

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How discourse can influence understanding about
literacy and literate practice

• Knowledge about aspects of literacy (implicit and
  explicit)
• Knowledge about how to do literacy
• First class with Defence Against the Dark Arts
  teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart I see youve all
  bought a complete set of my books well done. I
  thought wed start today with a little quiz.
  Nothing to worry about just to check how well
  youve read them, how much youve taken in

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How discourse can influence understanding about
literacy and literate practice

• Half an hour later, Lockhart collected in the
  papers and rifled through them in front of the
  class.
• Tut, tut hardly any of you remembered that my
  favourite colour is lilac. I say so in Year of
  the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Weekend
  with a Werewolf more carefully I clearly state
  in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift
  would be harmony between all magic and non-magic
  peoples though I wouldnt say no to a large
  bottle of Odgens Old Firewhisky!...but Miss
  Hermione Granger knew - good girl! In factfull
  marks!...Excellent!
• What do the students learn ABOUT literacy and HOW
  to do it?

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How social and cultural aspects of discourse can
influence participation in learning

1. Are the literate practices and discourses of my
   students socially and culturally different from
   those of my classroom?
2. Is the lack of participation by some students
   because they dont understand the content being
   taught or because they find the rules of
   interaction difficult to follow or enter into?
3. What other patterns of discourse and interaction
   might I use to avoid this?
4. Are some of the activities and exchanges of talk
   I engage in with my students so ritualised that I
   am seeing procedural display rather than real
   understanding?
5. How might I check for real understanding rather
   than procedural display?

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How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
learning

• Role of question and answer exchanges
• Managing the function of classroom discourse and
  learning
• Maintaining the focus of discourse on the
  learning objective
• Discourse around an imaginary learning context

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How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
learning

• Role of question and answer exchanges
• How much of the information given is knowing
  that and how much is knowing how? When I ask a
  question do I only accept the answer in my head
  or do I accept logical alternatives?
• What do I do with an incorrect answer?
• Do I ask students how they arrives at their
  answer and then identify for the student where
  they went wrong or do I reject that answer and
  ask another student for their answer?
• If I reformulate the question, how do I modify
  the original to assist in finding the answer?
• Do I simply narrow the alternatives or do I
  actually provide information about how to get an
  answer?

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How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
learning

• Managing the function of classroom discourse and
  learning
• What is the major focus of the lesson?
• If the focus is on management, what was it that
  made this so?
• How can I manage and plan my lessons to reduce
  management talk?
• How can I provide more information about how to
  do the task and when it is useful?
• Can I engage students in a real-life example to
  assist in the learning and thus demonstrate its
  utility?
• Did I model cognitive as well as behavioural
  processes when I explained how to do the task?

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Managing the function of classroom discourse and
learning

• First class with Defence Against the Dark Arts
  teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart I see youve all
  bought a complete set of my books well done. I
  thought wed start today with a little quiz.
  Nothing to worry about just to check how well
  youve read them, how much youve taken in
• How could Lockhart have improved this part of the
  lesson?

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How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
learning

• Maintaining the focus of discourse on the
  learning objective
• Did the lesson have a clear focus?
• Was the primary focus of learning on a specific
  literacy outcome?
• How can I keep the discourse from digressing to
  other topics?
• Danger of integrated units

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How patterns of discourse can aid or hinder
learning

• Discourse around an imaginary learning context
• Did the imaginary context for the learning become
  the focus rather than the literacy outcomes?
• Was the imaginary context appropriate for the
  range of students in the class?
• Does the choice of teaching strategies and
  materials further the literacy focus of the
  lesson?
• A cautionary tale about chocolate and spaghetti

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Lesson Phases

• For knowing how focussed lessons
• Focus whats the lesson about?
• Review whats been done and learned previously?
• Guided identification examples of new
  knowledge/skills (modelling)
• Guided practice trying out new knowledge/skills
  with teacher support
• Guided transfer trying out new knowledge/skills
  in new context/s still with appropriate support

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Lesson Phases

1. Was the selection of phases, activities and
   materials the best for the intended learning
   outcome?
2. Did the phase types selected promote the
   discourse that best suited the intended learning
   outcome?
3. How many phases were the students engages in over
   a period of time and were there clear (explicit)
   connections between them?
4. Were there too many changes of phase and
   discourse in the lesson so that students were
   having to concentrate more on literate practices
   (doing the literacy) than literacy learning?

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Phases of lesson

• First class with Defence Against the Dark Arts
  teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart I see youve all
  bought a complete set of my books well done. I
  thought wed start today with a little quiz.
  Nothing to worry about just to check how well
  youve read them, how much youve taken in

• Read the stories of my battle with the Yeti and
  the Vampire. What procedures for defeating dark
  creatures emerge from these stories..
• Focus
• Review
• Guided identification
• Guided practice
• Guided transfer

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Challenging IRE with PIE

• David Rose (2004)
• Prepare
• Identify
• Elaborate
• Used with indigenous communities.

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Example of PIE

• Preparation (P)
• T There was a long line of trenches all the way
  from Belgium through Germany. But it starts off
  Dreams of early success evaporated as both the
  central powers (which is Germany) and the allies
  (which is France and Britain) dug in a long line
  extending through Belgium to France and finishing
  in the south of Germany. So it starts off by
  saying people dreamed they could succeed
  quickly. Can you see the words that mean people
  dreamed they could succeed quickly? Have a look
  there.
• All look
• Identification (I)
• T Whats the words that say that?
• St Dreams of early successes

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Example of PIE

• Affirmation
• T Very good, thats great, Dreams of early
  successes. Lets all do (highlight) that.
• All mark wordings
• Elaboration
• T So that means they were all dreaming, it was
  just a dream. Its like they were dreaming and
  their dreams just evaporated into thin air.

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More information

• See http//www.readingtolearn.com.au//articles/

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Conclusion
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Tutorial

• Questions
• Modelling discourse analysis

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References

• Anstey, M. 2003, Examining classrooms as sites
  of literate practice and literacy learning, in
  The literacy lexicon second edition, eds G. Bull
  and M. Anstey, Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest NSW,
  pp. 103-121.
• Culican, S. J. (n.d.), Troubling teacher talk
  The challenge of changing classroom discourse
  patterns. Retrieved 14 September 2009 from
  http//www.aare.edu.au/05pap/cul05592.pdf
• Rose, D. 2004, Sequencing and pacing of the
  hidden curriculum How Indigenous learners are
  left out of the chain, in Reading Bernstein,
  researching Bernstein, eds J. Muller, A. Morais
  and B. Davies, RoutledgeFalmer, London, pp.
  91-107.
• Rowling, J. K. (date unknown), Harry Potter and
  the philosophers stone, Bloomsbury, London.
• Rowling, J. K. 1998, Harry Potter and the chamber
  of secrets, Bloomsbury, London.
• Sorry couldnt locate the copy I used!!