EDUC2029: Week 10

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EDUC2029 Week 10

• The Construction of Students in the Classroom

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Anticipatory Set

• Wepins by Gregory
•  Ther are mny kds uv wepins ther are had grnad
  shotrs bazuks flame thrs an mines if you rnt
  carefull they can kil the gy that has thm if you
  pull a pen on the grana you hav to thrw it quk or
  it will blooenup in yr had
•  There are many kinds of weapons there are hand
  grenade shooters bazookers flame throwers and
  mines if you arent careful they can kill the guy
  that has them if you pull a pin on the grenade
  you have to throw it quick or it will blow up in
  your hand
•  Activity What advice would you give to this
  student?

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Aims

• Review content from Week 9
• Practise analysing classroom discourse
• Examine how being a student is constructed in
  classrooms
• Consider the complexities of making decisions
  about good and bad teaching

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Outline of Lecture

• Review Week 9
• Construction of the good student
• Conclusion

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Review of Week 9
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A functional model of language
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The Construction of Students in the Classroom
8
From Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,
pp72-73

• Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle
  bench in the centre of the greenhouse. About
  twenty pairs of different coloured earmuffs were
  lying on the bench. When Harry had taken his
  place between Ron and Hermione, she said, Well
  be re-potting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell
  me the properties of the Mandrake?
• To nobodys surprise, Hermiones hand was first
  in the air.
• Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful
  restorative, said Hermione, sounding as usual as
  though she had swallowed the textbook. It is
  used to return people who have been transfigured
  or cursed to their original state.
• Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor, said
  Professor Sprout. The Mandrake forms an
  essential part of most antidotes. It is also,
  however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?
• Hermiones hand narrowly missed Harrys glasses
  as it shot up again.
• The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who
  hears it, she said promptly.
• Precisely. Take another ten points, said
  Professor Sprout. Now, the Mandrakes we have
  here are still very young.

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Being a student

• Messages for Hermione?
• Messages for other students?
• What does it mean to be a good student in this
  classroom?

10
Wepins by Gregory

•  Ther are mny kds uv wepins ther are had grnad
  shotrs bazuks flame thrs an mines if you rnt
  carefull they can kil the gy that has thm if you
  pull a pen on the grana you hav to thrw it quk or
  it will blooenup in yr had
•  There are many kinds of weapons there are hand
  grenade shooters bazookers flame throwers and
  mines if you arent careful they can kill the guy
  that has them if you pull a pin on the grenade
  you have to throw it quick or it will blow up in
  your hand
• What did the teacher say?

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• Conference 1 (40 seconds)
• Teacher How is it going Greg?
• Greg Good.
• Teacher Tell me about it.
• Greg Well, these weapons will kill you if you
  dont look out. Some guys forget when they pull
  the pin and stand there like dopes. It just
  blows their heads off. What a mess! Other guys
  get killed too.
• Teacher I see. You do have to watch out for that
  dont you? And what will you be doing with this
  piece next?
• Greg Well, they used these to kill Germans and I
  want to put that in.
• Teacher Fine, go to it.

12

• Conference 1 (40 seconds)
• Teacher How is it going Greg?
• Greg Good.
• Teacher Tell me about it.
• Greg Well, these weapons will kill you if you
  dont look out. Some guys forget when they pull
  the pin and stand there like dopes. It just blows
  their heads off. What a mess! Other guys get
  killed too.
• Teacher I see. You do have to watch out for that
  dont you? And what will you be doing with this
  piece next?
• Greg Well, they used these to kill Germans and I
  want to put that in.
• Teacher Fine, go to it.

• Genre and purpose?
• Field What are they talking about?
• Tenor Who is talking to whom? Power, distance,
  affect?
• Mode/s What type of language is being used
  verbal, spoken, visual, audio, gestural, spatial?
• Ideology What is being valued about literacy,
  subject matter?

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• Conference 1 (40 seconds)
• Teacher How is it going Greg?
• Greg Good.
• Teacher Tell me about it.
• Greg Well, these weapons will kill you if you
  dont look out. Some guys forget when they pull
  the pin and stand there like dopes. It just blows
  their heads off. What a mess! Other guys get
  killed too.
• Teacher I see. You do have to watch out for that
  dont you? And what will you be doing with this
  piece next?
• Greg Well, they used these to kill Germans and I
  want to put that in.
• Teacher Fine, go to it.

• Who is the primary knower? The secondary knower?
• Who has control?
• What evaluation would you make of this
  interaction?
• What are the strengths and limitations of these
  questions?

14
Girls into concrete by John, Year 3 (in Kamler,
1997)

• This potion will turn girls into concreate
• Ingredience
• 1 kg of concreate
• 2 girls
• 1 eye from a bat
• Method
• tip 1 kg of concreate into tub
• drop eye into concreate in tub
• put girls into concreate. make sure that girls
  are sitting up right
• Note
• This potion will not work if add to much
  concreate

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Girls into concrete by John, Year 3 (in Kamler,
1997)

• (Female) Teachers comment
• While I would classify text 2 as a complete
  instructional procedural genre, it would have
  been even better with a concluding step after
  step 3 of the method e.g., (4) When concrete
  girls have set can be used as ornaments in home
  or garden.
• What counts as being a good student in this
  classroom? (Think about the overt and covert
  messages!)

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Girls into concrete by John, Year 3 (in Kamler,
1997)

• This potion will turn girls into concreate
• Ingredience
• 1 kg of concreate
• 2 girls
• 1 eye from a bat
• Method
• tip 1 kg of concreate into tub
• drop eye into concreate in tub
• put girls into concreate. make sure that girls
  are sitting up right
• Note This potion will not work if add to much
  concreate

• In what ways does this text (and the teachers
  response) reflect the many intersecting and
  simultaneous functions of schooling
• Pastoral
• Skilling
• Regulative
• Human-capital
• Individual expression
• Cultural-heritage
• Democratic

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Austen et. al. (2003)

• Each function of schooling has implications for
  what constitutes the special knowledge that
  relates to schooling for teachers, teacher
  educators and parents (Keogh 1999) and each
  embodies a particular Child of the Curriculum
  the supported Child, the Child skilled and
  regulated for vocational life, the Child
  performing up to standards, the self-expressing
  Child, the democratic-citizen Child and so on
  Contests over priorities have never been resolved
  in any final sense, each cyclically invoking its
  opponents, simply because all these functions
  reflect what communities have come to expect of
  schooling.

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Wepins by Gregory

• Competing positions re the purposes of schooling
• Traditionalism the transmission of the cultures
  heritage
• Progessivism education is about personal growth
• Transformationalism educational experiences are
  arenas through which to transform students and
  society
• What is evident in the teachers talk around this
  text?

•  Ther are mny kds uv wepins ther are had grnad
  shotrs bazuks flame thrs an mines if you rnt
  carefull they can kil the gy that has thm if you
  pull a pen on the grana you hav to thrw it quk or
  it will blooenup in yr had
•  There are many kinds of weapons there are hand
  grenade shooters bazookers flame throwers and
  mines if you arent careful they can kill the guy
  that has them if you pull a pin on the grenade
  you have to throw it quick or it will blow up in
  your hand

19

• Conference 1 (40 seconds)
• Teacher How is it going Greg?
• Greg Good.
• Teacher Tell me about it.
• Greg Well, these weapons will kill you if you
  dont look out. Some guys forget when they pull
  the pin and stand there like dopes. It just blows
  their heads off. What a mess! Other guys get
  killed too.
• Teacher I see. You do have to watch out for that
  dont you? And what will you be doing with this
  piece next?
• Greg Well, they used these to kill Germans and I
  want to put that in.
• Teacher Fine, go to it.

• Competing positions re the purposes of schooling
• Traditionalism the transmission of the cultures
  heritage
• Progessivism education is about personal growth
• Transformationalism educational experiences are
  arenas through which to transform students and
  society
• What is evident in the teachers talk around this
  text?

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A return to traditionalism?

• The shape of things to come?
• P (prepare)
• I (identify)
• E (elaborate)

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Students become the teacher expectations

• See the Austen, Dwyer, Freebody reading for the
  detail.
• Story Peter Freebody and Jill Freiberg working
  with teachers in a Disadvantaged school the
  dumbest kid in the school

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Vygotsky (see Dufficy 2005)

• Zone of Proximal Development
• Role of emotion in learning and development
  (Damasios description of the man with steel
  through his frontal lobe) bringing together
  heart and head
• if we intend to challenge children and young
  people productively, then trust, honesty and
  authenticity must be the bedrock of our
  interactions. (p66)

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From Dufficy, 2005, p72

• Chau But Sir, how about if people are angry
  inside but in the outside they cant really say
  it out?
• T Yes, and so theyDo you think its good to
  hold in your anger?
• Hassan No.
• Ss No.
• T No, you reckon you should express your anger.
• Hassan Because otherwise you get a headache.
• T You get headaches if you hold it in. Have you
  ever been in situations where youve had to hold
  in your anger?

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• Ss Yeah.
• T When, Hai?
• Hai Last year.
• T What happened?
• Hai Like Phuong, Salam and George
• T What?
• Hai I had a fight down there.
• T And you had to hold in your anger.
• Mark Yeah, I was there too. I was watching.
• T Sometimeswhats
• Chau ()

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• T Sorry, Chau, I interrupted you.
• Chau You go.
• T No, you go.
• Chau No you.
• T I forgot what I was going to say. Doesnt
  matter ()
• How does this combine elements of head and
  heart teaching?
• Who are the primary and secondary knowers here?

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CompareAnstey 2004

• Mary (reading from her written piece) When we
  heard about my pa died, my mum started to cry and
  we all did too. It was really sad and we couldnt
  cheer my mum up. We tried but we just couldnt
  cheer my mum up, and he was really good to us. He
  gave us lollies.
• Anstey Your pa died?
• Mary Yeah.
• Anstey (pointing to unfinished word in writing)
  Are you going to finish the word lollies?

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• Mary He ate some too, but in hospital he didnt
  eat any food, thats why he was(pause)he died.
• Anstey He was very sick was he? Are you going to
  put that into your story?
• Mary (shakes head) No, not very much room.
• Anstey You can use another piece of paper if you
  want to?
• Mary No.
• Questions
• What are the message/s here about being a good
  student?
• What could the teacher have done differently?

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SoDufficy 2005

• it could be said that the story of a classroom
  is told through its talk. While restricted
  patterns of communication afford little
  opportunity to develop both linguistically and
  cognitively, they also frame for the child the
  kind of learner she is considered to be. This
  learner is one that doesnt initiate topics for
  consideration by others is restricted in the
  opportunity to question and disagree and is
  contrained to the extent that she must pursue the
  answer demanded by others. At least initially,
  children are learning values of compliance,
  cognitive passivity, and uncritical acceptance of
  the views of others.

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• teachers must continue to take children and
  young people, as active partners, on excursions
  into the world. The quality of the excursions
  might well be judged by the nature of the
  interactions that take place and these, in turn,
  should be judged on the values and dispositions
  that children are assisted to learn.

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Conclusion
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Todays Tutorial

• Questions
• Where do you stand traditionalism,
  progressivism, transformationalism?
• Analysing classroom discourse

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References

• Anstey, M. and Bull, G. (2004). The literacy
  labyrinth second edition. Pearson Prentice Hall
  Frenchs Forest NSW.
• Austin, H., Dwyer, B., Freebody, P. (2003).
  Schooling the child The making of students in
  classrooms. Routledge Falmer London.
• Dufficy, P. (2005). Becoming in classroom talk.
  Prospect. 201. pp59-81.
• Graves, D. (1983). Writing Teachers and children
  at work. Heinemann London.
• Kamler, Barbara (1997). Towards a critical
  writing pedagogy in English. Muspratt, S, Luke,
  A. and Freebody, P. Constructing critical
  literacies. Allen Unwin Australia.