Teacher orchestration of classroom interaction in science: exploring dialogic and authoritative passages in whole-class discussions

Abstract

Whereas science is fundamentally a result of a dialogic debate, the authoritative approach has been conceived of as a fundamental part of school science. Dialogic interactions encompass the mutual appreciation of different ideas manifested in teacher supportiveness toward students and, in authoritative interactions, the focus is more on the science's or teacher's point of view.Whereas dialogic and authoritative interactions have been viewed as oppositional in recent educational research, authoritative interactions could well be the seed for and give strength and meaning to dialogic interactions, and thus, to the overall dialogue. The focus in this study is on the interplay between authoritative and dialogic interactions rather than on the rivalry between them. In other words, we present how both dialogic and authoritative interactions can be essential for teacher orchestration of whole-class discussions. This is achieved through a temporal consideration of the interactions and an in-depth analysis of selected episodes of a case science teacher. Interpretations are complemented with teacher reflections to shed light on the on-the-fly decisions made by the teacher when orchestrating dialogue. Implications for educational research and teacher education are discussed.

Science Learning Discourse Based on Classroom Representation Practice to Process Concept of Material Pressure

“…In making their own representations, pupils are productively limited in their reasoning by having to focus on key aspects of the problem, choose appropriate tools, and apply background knowledge relevant to the problem. Furthermore, research that puts forward problems in terms of learning, Furtak and Shavelson in 2009 have presented preliminary evidence that instead of consisting of one dominant communicative approach, a mixture of communicative approaches would further facilitate pupil learning (Lehesvuori et al, 2019).…”

Utilizing Informal Formative Assessment and Dialogicity During Reflections on Educational Dialogue in Mathematics

“…These results show that although dialogicity can be essential, especially when seeking information about learners' thinking, authoritativeness (focus on knowledge) carries more weight when heading for purposeful closures via cumulativity. In terms of communicative approaches (Mortimer & Scott, 2003), there is a wave motion between dialogicity and authoritativeness, and teachers should be sensitive about when to open and close discussions (Lehesvuori et al, 2013(Lehesvuori et al, , 2019. Balancing the different communicative approaches is apparent in the ESRU cycle and its variations in the following ways:…”

“…The latter can take place in the teacher's longer lecturing turns, extending beyond the use of learners' ideas toward more lesson-goal-oriented instruction. The challenge, however, is to balance authoritativeness and dialogicity (Lehesvuori et al, 2019;Scott et al, 2006). Within informal formative assessment, this could mean, for example, that the teacher balances between collecting and presenting information and between neutral recognition and evaluation of learner responses.…”

Russian As A Foreign Language Lesson: Lexico-Grammatical Basis Of Teacher-Student Speech Interaction

“…In our opinion, one of the solutions to the problem is the correct organization of the teacher's speech, so that it is not only understandable to the student, but that it serves as an example for the student to organize his speech. "Teachers can achieve good learning outcomes by carefully asking questions in front of the class, organizing class discussions, and summarizing post-class reflections" (Xie, 2021, p. 347), also "dialogical interaction includes mutual evaluation of various ideas, manifested in the teacher's support for students" (Lehesvuori et al, 2019(Lehesvuori et al, , p. 2557.…”