The moral implications of teacher-child discourse in early childhood classrooms

The ways teachers engage children in discourse during teaching-learning activities have profound moral implications for children's learning and development. The goals of this article are (1) to explicate how teachers' control over classroom discourse patterns during teaching-learning activities influences the types of knowledge children create and acquire; (2) to examine the relationship between two types of teacher-child discourse commonly used in early childhood classrooms and the semiotic tools children appropriate through participation in each type of discourse; and (3) to outline the moral implications each has for children's learning and development. A framework for considering the moral implications of the ways teachers engage children in discourse during teaching-learning activities in early childhood classrooms is presented.     

The Impact of an Engineering Design Curriculum on Science Reasoning in an Urban Setting

This study examines the use of engineering design to facilitate science reasoning in high-needs, urban classrooms. The Design for Science unit utilizes scaffolds consistent with reform science instruction to assist students in constructing a design solution to satisfy a need from their everyday lives. This provides a meaningful context in which students could reason scientifically. Eighth grade students from two urban schools participated in the unit. Both schools contained large percentages of racial/ethnic minority and economically disadvantaged students. Students demonstrated statistically significant improvement on a paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice pre and post assessment. The results compare favorably with both a high-quality inquiry science unit and a traditional textbook curriculum. Implications for the use of design-based curricula as a viable alternative for teaching science reasoning in high-needs, urban settings are discussed.