Nichols, Maria – Featured Session: The Power of Purposeful Talk

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The I.R.E. pattern of discourse • In the IRE, a teacher initiation (I) is followed by a student reply (R), followed by an evaluation of this reply (E) by the teacher (Mehan, 1979; Cazden, 1988) • The IRE pattern was actually "the most common pattern of classroom discourse at all grade levels" (Cazden 1988:29). • School knowledge is the knowledge which someone else presents to us. We partly grasp it, enough to answer the teacher's questions, to do exercises, or to answer examination questions, but it remains someone else's knowledge, not ours. ~ Douglas Barnes But dialogue … is a coming to an intellectual exchange willing to see and hear something new in the exchange, and actually creating a newer, stronger understanding… ~ David Bohm A dialogic classroom is… … one in which there are lots of open questions and extended exchanges among students. These are not classrooms based on the delivery of facts. ~ Peter Johnston “From Exploratory Talk to Critical Conversations” by Kathryn M. Pierce and Carol Gilles in Exploring Talk in School • Social talk • Exploratory talk • Presentational talk • Meta-‐talk • Critical talk CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards Comprehension and Collaboration Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas Key Points • An important focus of the speaking and listening standards is academic discussion in one-‐on-‐one, small group, and whole class settings. Formal presentations are one important way such talk occurs, but so is the more informal discussion that takes place as students collaborate to answer questions, build understanding, and solve problems. Getting purposeful talk started: Creating space and support for exploratory and critical talk Conversational behavior • Hearing all voices • Growing ideas 2
• Say something meaningful • Listen with intent • Keep lines of thinking alive • Negotiating meaning Creating dialogic learning environments: strategies to grow exploratory and critical talk Growing talk • Teacher as facilitator (IRE à dialogic) • The power of compelling ideas You don’t write down for children. You write up. ~ E. B. White • Moving the thinking and talking from the text to the world How can we extend the imagination it takes to live inside a book – the ability to make meaning and build the world of the story – to a social imagination, a belief that we can make lives better and more just for people? ~Randy and Katherine Bomer • Wrestling with controversy For intellectual engagement, the most powerful lever comes when children disagree and take each other seriously. ~ Peter Johnston • Dwelling in shades of grey • Emphasizing strategic efforts Dialogue changes the epistemology of the classroom – what counts as knowledge. ~ Marty Nystrand The power of purposeful talk: Developing collaborative abilities and critical habits of mind …these children and their peers are learning to participate in a strong democracy. They expect to engage, to disagree, and to grow from that disagreement. At some point, they will vote, but that will be after they have understood their own and each other’s views and have expanded their collective mind in the process. Even if they vote self-‐interest, it will be enlightened self-‐interest. ~Peter Johnson Professional texts cited: Barnes, Douglas. From Communication to Curriculum. Bohm, David. On Talk. Britton, James. Talking to Learn Cazdon, Courtney. Classroom Discourse. Hall, Kathy. Literacy and Schooling: Towards Renewal in Primary Education Policy 3
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Nichols, Maria – Featured Session: The Power of Purposeful Talk

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