Bringing the background to the foreground: What do classroom environments that support authentic discussions look like?

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Authentic discussions are dialogicatty oriented classroom interactions where participants present and consider multiple perspectives and often use others' input in constructing their contributions. Despite their instructional effectiveness, authentic discussions are reportedly rare in classrooms. This qualitative case study examines the features of the environment of a fifth-grade classroom community where authentic discussions were frequent. The examination used recorded class sessions, interviews, and field notes to identify seven aspects of the classroom environment that appeared to be essential to the presence of authentic discussions: physical environment, curricular demands and enacted curriculum, teacher beliefs, student beliefs about discussions, relationships among members, classroom procedures, and norms of classroom participation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)370-399
Number of pages30
JournalAmerican Educational Research Journal
Volume44
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bringing the background to the foreground: What do classroom environments that support authentic discussions look like?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this