Neil Mercer

Children's Talk and the Development of Reasoning in the Classroom

Abstract Sixty British primary school children aged 9‐10 and their teachers took part in an experimental teaching programme, designed to improve the quality of childrens reasoning and collaborative activity by developing their awareness of language use and promoting certain ‘ground rules’ for talking together. Childrens subsequent use of language when carrying out collaborative activities in the classroom was observed and analysed, and effects on their performance on Ravens Progressive Matrices test of non‐verbal reasoning were also investigated. Comparative data were gathered from children in matched control classes. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of discourse showed a marked shift in target childrens use of language in accord with the aims of the teaching programme, and demonstrated that adherence to the ground rules helped groups solve the reasoning test problems. Childrens individual scores on the Ravens test also improved. These findings support a sociocultural view of intellectual devel...

The quality of talk in children's collaborative activity in the classroom

Abstract This paper describes research based on observational data of the talk of children working together on educational activities in primary school classrooms. It offers an analysis of the quality of observed talk, an analysis which emerges from a sociocultural perspective on the process of teaching and learning. The paper is organized around four main themes: (a) the role of oral language and joint activity in the construction of knowledge; (b) education in schools as a cultural and linguistic activity; (c) the role of a teacher in fostering certain kinds of discourse; and (d) the need for applied educational research to be based on close working relationships between teachers and researchers.

From social interaction to individual reasoning: an empirical investigation of a possible socio-cultural model of cognitive development

Abstract This study explores the theory that individual reasoning ability, as measured using standard reasoning tests, has part of its origin in dialogue with others. In the study, 64 eight- and nine-year-old children were taught the use of ‘exploratory talk’, a type of talk in which joint reasoning is made explicit. The relationship between the talk of the children and the solving of Ravens test problems was studied using discourse analysis of groups working together. The findings of the study support four claims: that use of exploratory talk can improve group reasoning, that exploratory talk can be taught, that the teaching of exploratory talk can successfully transfer between educational contexts and that individual results on a standard non-verbal reasoning test significantly improved as a result of the intervention teaching exploratory talk. Our results offer support for the hypothesis that experience of social reasoning can improve scores on measures of individual reasoning. The stronger hypothesis that general cognitive development is a product of induction into social reasoning remains in doubt.

Scaffolding the Development of Effective Collaboration and Learning.

Abstract Research in Mexican and British schools provides an empirical basis for arguing that, by the use of certain kinds of interactional strategies, teachers can enable children to become more able in managing individual and joint reasoning and learning activities in the classroom. The research described is based on a sociocultural conception and analysis of education, which focuses on the ways that children can be inducted into the communicative and intellectual activities of the classroom as a ‘community of enquiry’. The research has provided (a) an account of strategies teachers use, and for relating teacher’s scaffolding to the interactive process of knowledge construction; (b) an analysis of ways that children talk when working together on joint activities; and (c) a practical method for promoting children’s effective collaboration, communication, reasoning and learning, successfully tested with British and Mexican primary school children. The results of the research are discussed in relation to a Vygotskian conception of the relationship between ‘intermental’ (social) and ‘intramental’ (psychological) development.

The Seeds of Time: Why Classroom Dialogue Needs a Temporal Analysis

The process of teaching and learning in school has a natural long-term trajectory and cannot be understood only as a series of discrete educational events. Classroom talk plays an important role in mediating this long-term process, and in this article I argue that more attention should be given to the temporal dimension of classroom dialogue, both empirically and theoretically, if we are to appreciate how children gain an education from their classroom experience. I explore this topic using data from recent applied, interventional research in United Kingdom primary schools and examine how classroom talk is used to represent past shared experience, carry ideas forward from one occasion to another, approach future activities, and achieve learning outcomes. The article ends with a discussion of the theoretical, methodological, and educational implications of making this kind of temporal analysis. The data examples used in this article are from the project Language, Thinking and ICT in the Primary Curriculum, which was financed by Grant EDU/00169/G from the Nuffield Foundation. The research was carried out by Lyn Dawes, Steve Higgins, Claire Sams, Rupert Wegerif, and myself. The participation in this research of teachers and children in Milton Keynes schools, and the support of Milton Keyne Borough Council and the Nuffield Foundation, are acknowledged with thanks. I am extremely grateful for the constructive comments on earlier drafts of this article provided by Lyn Dawes, Judith Kleine Staarman, Karen Littleton, and Ingvill Rasmussen; and many thanks to Caroline Coffin, Janet Maybin, Karen Littleton, and Ian Wilkinson for providing valuable bibliographic resources and references for exploring the topic of temporality. The reviewers for the Journal of the Learning Sciences also helped the development of this article by providing very clear and useful comments.

The analysis of classroom talk: Methods and methodologies

This article describes methods for analysing classroom talk, comparing their strengths and weaknesses. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are described and assessed for their strengths and weaknesses, with a discussion of the mixed use of such methods. It is acknowledged that particular methods are often embedded in particular methodologies, which are based on specific theories of social action, research paradigms, and disciplines; and so a comparison is made of two contemporary methodologies, linguistic ethnography, and sociocultural research. The article concludes with some comments on the current state of development of this field of research and on ways that it might usefully progress.

Talk and the Development of Reasoning and Understanding

Wertsch’s clarification of Vygotsky’s claims about the role of social interaction in the development of children’s thinking made an important contribution to educational research. Revisiting that clarification, I suggest that ‘talk’ instead of ‘speech’ best describes Vygotsky’s concern with the functional dynamics of dialogue rather than the language system. Reviewing research on teacher-pupil interaction and collaborative activity amongst peers, I then consider what evidence has now emerged to support Vygotsky’s claims. The article ends with a brief summary of the current state of our understanding about the role of spoken dialogue in learning and development.

How Do Teachers Help Children to Learn? An Analysis of Teachers' Interventions in Computer-Based Activities.

Abstract In British schools, educational software is normally used by children working under the supervision of a teacher, who will have set them specific tasks and organize them to work at the computer in pairs or groups. However, those theories of learning which have most influenced research into the design and use of educational software have been essentially concerned with individualized learning, and are insensitive to the nature of teaching and learning as a communicative, culturally-based process. The present paper discusses an alternative theoretical perspective, one derived from the work of Vygotsky. This is used in an analysis of interventions made by teachers in the computer-based activities of their pupils, using observational data gained from video-recordings of primary school classrooms. The usefulness of the theoretical perspective is evaluated, and implications for the development of computer-based activities are discussed.

A "Learning Revolution"? Investigating Pedagogic Practice around Interactive Whiteboards in British Primary Classrooms

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch‐sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole‐class interaction. Strong claims are made for their value by manufacturers and policy‐makers, but there has been little research on how, if at all, they influence established pedagogic practices, communicative processes and educational goals. This study has been designed to examine this issue, using observations in primary (elementary) school classrooms, and builds on the authors’ previous research on Information and Communication Technology in educational dialogues and collaborative activities.

Using interactive whiteboards to orchestrate classroom dialogue

This paper focuses on the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) as a tool for encouraging and supporting classroom dialogue. The authors’ concern here is with the promotion of ‘dialogic’ communication between teachers and students, which is now widely recognised as educationally valuable. In this study they investigated how teachers could use the technical interactivity of the IWB to support dialogic interactivity. The design of the study was predicated upon a partnership between the authors and three UK (primary, middle school and secondary) teachers of 8‐ to 14‐year‐olds; examples of practice reported here derive mainly from secondary history. Outcomes include illustrative examples of teachers’ effective strategies for using the IWB for orchestrating dialogue. Implications for teachers’ initial training and professional development are considered.