Students’ Positioning in the Classroom: a Study of Teacher-Student Interactions in a Socioscientific Issue Context

Abstract

The integration of socioscientific issues (SSI) in science education calls for emphasizing dialogic classroom practices that include students' views together with multiple sources of knowledge and diverse perspectives on the issues. Such classroom practices aim to empower students to participate in decision-making on SSI. This can be accomplished by enhancing their independence as learners and positioning them as legitimate participants in societal discussions. However, this is a complex task for science teachers. In this study, we introduce positioning theory as a lens to analyse classroom discourse on SSI in order to enhance our knowledge of the manners by which teachers' interactions with students make available or promote different positions for the students, that is, different parts for the students to play as participants, when dealing with SSI in the classroom. Transcripts of interactions between one teacher and six student groups, recorded during two lessons, were analysed with respect to the positioning of the students as participants in the classroom, and in relation to the SSI under consideration. The results show that the teacher-student interactions made available contrasting student positions. The students were positioned by the teacher or positioned themselves as independent learners or as dependent on the teacher. Furthermore, the students were positioned as affected by the issue but as spectators to public negotiations of the issue. Knowledge about the manner in which teacher-student interactions can function to position students seems important for dialogic classroom practices and the promotion of student positions that sustain the pursuit of intended educational outcomes.

New directions in socioscientific issues research

“…That sociocultural perspectives as those advocated in the SSI framework has to be at best, inferred and not explicitly addressed by initiatives such as A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) or the Next Generation Science Standards (2013) in the US, suggests to us that other global initiatives not look to the US as the "Gold Standard" for progressive frameworks (Zeidler, 2014;Zeidler, 2016;Zeidler et al, 2016). In the absence of explicit sociocultural approaches to science education, these past (and even current) trends have, at times, produced tensions between more traditional essentialist expectations and specializations found in discrete discipline "silos" of science and the kind of normative discourses and cross curricular connections typically encouraged in progressivist pedagogy (Bossér & Lindahl, 2019;Elgström & Hellstenius, 2011;Lindahl, Folkesson, & Zeidler, 2019).…”

Addressing Sustainable Development: Promoting Active Informed Citizenry through Trans-Contextual Science Education

“…Such a scientific literacy shift, pays more attention to promoting a socially responsible and competent citizenry, in line with sustainable development goals. It can be expected to go beyond solely active citizenship [36], and informed citizenship [37], and embrace the wider aspects of science education at a global, or international level. Recent studies [38] imply that such a more contemporary science education can be seen to be contributing to this.…”

Sosyobilimsel Konu Senaryolarının İncelenmesi: Bir İçerik Analizi Çalışması

“…Bu durum SBK'nın sunulması aşamasında herhangi bir görüşe taraf olmadan konunun tanıtılması çabası ile açıklanabilir. Öğrencilerin karar vermesini istediğimiz konu hakkındaki zıt fikirlerin onları benzer oranda etkileyecek şekilde verilmesi önemlidir (Bosser ve Lindahl, 2017). Bu nedenle SBK senaryolarının yazılmasında konuyla ilgili olumlu ve olumsuz fikir ya da bilgilerin dengeli bir şekilde sunulmasına dikkat edilmelidir (Tsai, 2018).…”