Constructing competence: an analysis of student participation in the activity systems of mathematics classrooms

This paper investigates the construction of systems of competence in two middle school mathematics classrooms. Drawing on analyses of discourse from videotaped classroom sessions, this paper documents the ways that agency and accountability were distributed in the classrooms through interactions between the teachers and students as they worked on mathematical content. In doing so, we problematize the assumption that competencies are simply attributes of individuals that can be externally defined. Instead, we propose a concept of individual competence as an attribute of a person's participation in an activity system such as a classroom. In this perspective, what counts as “competent” gets constructed in particular classrooms, and can therefore look very different from setting to setting. The implications of the ways that competence can be defined are discussed in terms of future research and equitable learning outcomes.

A dynamic systems analysis of classrooms: teacher experience and student motivation

Learning Environments Research - In this study, classrooms were regarded as systems in which the teacher and students interact in context and behaviors of the teacher and students affect each other...     

Social representations as mediators of mathematics learning in multiethnic classrooms

Drawing on socio-cultural theory, we understand the norms regulating the practices within the mathematics classroom as resulting from the social representations of the socially dominant groups and of the school culture related to what constitutes learning mathematics. Immigrant studients, having their own personal histories as members of particular social groups, and having been in school traditions other than the one predominant in the host society, have their own images of what mathematics in school is about. Individuals interacting in the classroom are all re-interpreting the different episodes from the perspective of the social representations of the larger groups with which they identify themselves. In multiethnic classrooms different re-interpretations of the same norms clash. The lack of negotiation gives rise to obstacles to immigrant students’ participation in the mathematical conversations and, therefore, interferes with the students’ learning process.     

The social mediation of learning in multiethnic schools: Introduction

The ethnic diversity within schools is a major challenge for education in most European countries. The diversity of cultural backgrounds of students and parents leads to new transitions, enables new forms of participation, and demands the creation of new concepts, values and practices. Processes of mediation have a vital place in the required developments. The contributions to this issue study the relationship between learning and social mediation on three levels: (1) the mediating role of cultural tools, in particular language and the curriculum, (2) the role of peers and teachers in the appropriation of cultural tools by minority students, and (3) the mediating role of social representations in the shaping of students’ identities at school.     

Concrete and classrooms: how schools shape educational research

The notion of ‘the school’ as a set of institutional processes and practices that shape the possibilities of educational research forms the focus of this article. It is argued that the discursive and material practices that render schools agencies of cultural reproduction also have effects for what research can be undertaken in them and how. With reference to a series of ‘episodes’ that occurred during research about young people and sexuality in New Zealand, evidence for how schools shape research endeavours is provided. These examples present a complex picture of the way in which schools simultaneously police and are regulated by symbolic boundaries of gender and sexuality. How school disciplinary power works to effect what it is possible to claim about the voluntary nature of student research participation is also explored. It is argued that through the powerful discursive and material practices that occur in schools, these institutions can impede research that attempts to transgress dominant meanings about gender and sexuality.     

Recognising students and teachers: difference and identity in international classrooms

ABSTRACT

This article argues that representations of teacher and student identity obscure the complexity of individuals as becomings. Evidence from interviews and observations with Western teachers in international schools in Vietnam suggests that these representations posit the existence of stable teacher and student identities and derive the difference between them from static images of Western and Asian cultures. I argue that thinking through Deleuze’s concepts of becoming, difference, and faciality offers possibilities for different kinds of encounters between teachers and students as individuals.     

The role of environment clubs in promoting ecocentrism in secondary schools: student identity and relationship to the earth

This qualitative study used a deep ecology lens and the New Environmental Paradigm to investigate anthropocentrism and ecocentrism in 30 secondary school environment club students from three schools in Victoria, Australia. The work repositions the deep ecology philosophy as a posthumanist/relational ideology, providing novel perspectives based on kinship with the earth. Open-ended interviews assessed the alignment of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors along a Deep Ecology Spectrum. Key aspects of deep ecology were confirmed through the study findings including biospherical egalitarianism, limits to growth, wildlife preservation, anti-consumerism, environmental activism, and ecological identity.     

Becoming real: adult student impressions of developing an educational researcher identity

This study investigated the inner experiences of adults learning to become educational researchers. Through narrative analysis of doctoral students’ tales of memorable early encounters in conducting research, insight was gained into the self-questioning tension, conflict, and drama often experienced. A discussion about how to utilize students’ reflective writings to provide appropriate developmental support in doctoral programmes is provided.     

Alternative identities in multicultural schools in Israel: emancipatory identity,mixed identity and transnational identity 1

Economic and technological processes of globalization and the increasing migrations of people in the world undermine dominant national identities. One of the main characteristics of our time is the instability of identities and the continuous invention of new/old identities. Traditions and ethnic identities are deconstructed and reconstructed. Immigrants, first, second and also third generation, participate in the dynamic of identity production. It is as part of this global process of identity production that recently founded multicultural schools in Israel have to be understood. The Kedma, Shevach/Mofet and Bialik multicultural schools provide alternative identities to the prevailing national identity: an emancipatory identity to Mizrahi (Oriental) children, a mixed identity to children of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and a transnational identity to the children of migrant workers. Rather than facilitating integration into the discriminatory hegemonic national identity, these alternative identities provide new empowering options for young immigrants within Israeli society.     

Combining identity and integration: comparative analysis of schools for two minority groups in Ukraine

This article analyses school systems for two of Ukraine’s minorities, the Hungarians and the Crimean Tatars with the aim of assessing their success in promoting ethnocultural identity and social integration of the minority youth. I demonstrate that the exclusive instruction in Hungarian ensures the reproduction of group language knowledge and identity among the minority members but perpetuates their inability to communicate in the majority language and thus limits their social mobility. In contrast, the limited scope of education in Crimean Tatar exacerbates the problem of its poor knowledge by the group members and, therefore, vulnerability of their cultural identity. I argue that the introduction of bilingual education is the best way to solve the two groups’ educational problems.     

What we talk about when we talk about education: the private and public educational talk of teachers in schools

One of the central challenges for a school is the creation of a public discourse which expresses the shared purpose of the school community, without losing the multiple and different voices within the teaching staff. In this article we report on the generative potential of educational conversation, when it is structured around questions which allow teachers to reflect on their best teaching selves in past practice and to project those selves into future situations. We suggest that within the staff, the public relating of teaching narratives, and the reflective conversation to which they give rise, constitutes a public and collective form of enquiry into teaching and learning. We argue that reflective conversation is dependent upon critical listening, where the listener is open to what is being said, but is also prepared to ask questions that open up the topic of teaching and learning in ways that are revelatory for both speaker and listener.     

Mathematical problem posing: Implications for facilitating student inquiry in classrooms

From 1984 through 1988, the authors worked with teachers using an inquiry approach to teach high school geometry courses with the aid of the GEOMETRIC SUPPOSERS. Problems are a critical component of the approach, as they are of any instructional process, because they focus attention and energy and guide students in the application, integration, and extension of knowledge. Inquiry problems differ from traditional, single-answer textbook exercises in that they must leave room for student initiative and creativity. The observations presented in this paper about the delicate balance between specifying too much instruction and too little, which is part of creating and posing inquiry problems, are based on careful examination of students' papers and classroom observations. The paper closes with speculations on whether these observations suggest general lessons for those seeking practical and successful strategies to introduce student inquiry into classrooms, with the hope of stimulating interest in and discussion of such strategies.Preliminary versions of this paper were presented at PME-XI Montreal, 1987, and the 1988 AERA conference in New Orleans.     

Error management behavior in classrooms: Teachers' responses to student mistakes

Only a few studies have focused on how teachers deal with mistakes in actual classroom settings. Teachers' error management behavior was analyzed based on data obtained from direct (Study 1) and videotaped systematic observation (Study 2), and students' self-reports. In Study 3 associations between students' and teachers' attitudes towards mistakes and their impact on students' domain specific emotions were investigated. Together, the presented studies contribute to the understanding of the interplay between teachers' everyday instructional routines surrounding mistakes and students' beliefs about (learning from) errors. The findings also emphasize the relevance of how students perceive their teachers' attitudes towards mistakes.     

Measuring teacher regulating activities concerning student learning in secondary education classrooms: Reliability and validity of student perceptions

.This article describes the use and validation of the Pedagogical Practices Inventory, which uses student perceptions arranged into five subscales to measure teacher activities concerning the regulation of student learning in secondary education. To determine the reliability and validity of the instrument, an inventory study (N = 2128) and a study in which observational data (N = 11) and inventory data (N = 201) were combined, were carried out. Analysis of the inventory data showed internal subscale reliabilities between .83 and .90, indicating consistency of the PPI subscale scores. Correlations between inventory and observational data showed significant relations for three of the five subscales, indicating that the PPI is suitable to tap teacher regulating activities in classroom contexts.     

Constructing an institutional identity in university tea rooms: the international PhD student experience

This case study profiles eight international PhD students and describes the process of the construction and negotiation of their social and institutional identities in an Australian university. Audio-recorded informal conversations of the students highlight the role of social membership, staffroom interactions and language in the construction of institutional identities. The impact of multiple identity transitions experienced by new international students is described. The data analysis uses a sociocultural perspective of second language in use, which reflects the negotiation of power, space and identity in informal multicultural institutional encounters. The article provides insight into the ways transitions are experienced by international postgraduate students. Findings also include a critique of the negatively loaded stereotype of the ‘international student’ in Australian universities and the way it underplays the heterogeneity of student experience.     

Korean-American student perceptions on literacy and identity: perspectives from an ethnographic case study

This ethnographic case study examines perceptions of literacy and identity for a Korean-American student in a third-grade classroom. The researchers examine how teachers can misinterpret Asian identity in the classroom due to perceptions related to the Model Minority Myth and other stereotypical representations of Asian culture. By focusing solely on academic success, teachers miss opportunities to gain insight for nurturing other areas of student success and adjustment in the classroom environment. Implications for identity formation and authentic integration of language and literacy practices are discussed. Educators interested in culturally-relevant instruction for immigrant students should find this study informative.