The teaching of the arts and literacy in schools is often at odds with one another. The desire for schools to improve results on high-stakes testing can lead to a narrow view of literacy rather than one that acknowledges the unique and distinct literacies that exist in other curriculum areas including the arts. With methods of communication becoming increasingly complex, it will be more and more important for students to be able to utilise all semiotic modes.

Developing Literacy and the Arts in Schools investigates this key issue in education and offers a solution to the negative relationship between the arts and literacy. Drawing on interview data and evidence from diverse classrooms, it explores the pedagogies of effective arts practitioners and teachers, and how they relate to theoretical frameworks, to unpack the key elements of effective practice related to literacy and the arts. A model of arts-literacies is provided to assist arts and literacy educators in developing a common language that acknowledges and values these distinct arts-literacies. Themes of multimodality, diversity, aesthetics and reflection in relation to the arts and literacy are foregrounded throughout.

Developing Literacy and the Arts in Schools

Interactions between instructors and students in the foreign language (FL) classroom have been researched from various angles, among others, in the fields of discourse analysis and conversation analysis (Markee, 2015a). While research has shown that classroom interactions facilitate learning (Walsh, 2011), an in-depth semantic perspective is rarely adopted. This study investigates how instructors at a private university in the United States support the co-construction of both language and content knowledge through their oral interactions with learners in a German FL class while discussing a magazine article. A systemic functional linguistics (SFL) framework has been used for the qualitative analysis of discourse semantics and lexicogrammar in classroom discourse. SFL was chosen due to its functional view of linguistic resources. Specifically, the concepts of SPEECH FUNCTIONS, MOOD, CLAUSE COMPLEX, and TRANSITIVITY informed the analysis of transcribed observations of three contentand language-integrated FL classrooms. The analysis was triangulated with semi-structured interviews with the respective instructor. The analysis of SPEECH FUNCTIONS reveals that the discourse semantic moves of registering, elaborating, and extending can be particularly effective in the elicitation of knowledge. Furthermore, clarifying and confronting rejoinder moves seem to play an important role for the co-construction of knowledge. As far as linguistic realizations are

The Co-Construction of Knowledge in Foreign Language Teacher–Student Classroom Interactions

In this paper an argument is made for paying attention to the discursive features of classroom talk; particularly, for how the teacher authorises ways of knowing and speaking about the world for students. One teacher's pedagogic practice is described as she teaches English and History through an integrated endeavour with a group of Year 8 students. She aims to empower a small group of Aboriginal students-in her predominantly European classroom-to speak of their history, in and on their own terms. Teaching Australian History in schools and whether to take a colonial or first nations standpoint is contested. The ethnographic research on which this paper is based, follows three teachers across one school year. The focus of this study is in how classroom talk constrains or enables students to engage in dialogical ways. Following Bakhtin (1981) and Freire (1970), dialogic learning engagements are understood as those which provide students with opportunities to explore new, contested or different understandings about the world. This paper illustrates the extent to which a teacher's view towards knowledge influences students' conceptualisations and expressions of what is identified as important to know.

Teaching for reconciliation in a multiracial classroom

There has been an ongoing discussion about the role and level of teacher scaffolding in developing student agency while also meeting intended learning outcomes in inquiry-based science classrooms. This study investigates how teachers practice classroom talk to scaffold students’ learning through the inquiry process and how teacher authority and student agency are embedded in a dialogical practice. A case study using an ethnographic approach was employed to understand the complexity of teachers’ and students’ interactions through classroom talk. Two elementary teachers and their students were involved in this study. Through classroom talk, the teachers demonstrated openness and flexibility in their dialogical turns to develop students’ agency in problem solving, while at the same time employed their authority to monitor and lead classroom talk toward students’ understanding of science concepts as part of the intended curriculum. They sought to emphasize scientific attitudes in the inquiry process by acknowledging the authority of science and scientists’ ways of problem solving. Accordingly, this study found that the teachers alternated between dialogical and authoritative voices in classroom talk to facilitate student learning with agency. Furthermore, this study suggests the importance of distinguishing teacher pedagogical authority from teacher authority as power dominance.

Student Agency and Teacher Authority in Inquiry-Based Classrooms: Cases of Elementary Teachers’ Classroom Talk

The opportunity to participate in classroom discourse can be an essential component of young children's development. However, there are phrases, terms and instructions from adults that can serve as barriers and can limit children's ability or desire to participate consistently in dialogue with peers and adults in the classroom. This chapter shares the experiences of three early childhood educators as they navigate classroom discourse with young children and learn how applying culturally responsive teaching practices can enhance the discourse experiences for the children in their classes. 

“Shhh! Use Your Inside Voice”

This article draws on a research project undertaken in a state secondary school that explored ways of engaging students in the content area of science. The paper argues that high school teachers teaching in specialist areas can better cater for student needs through attention to a pedagogy that is literacy focused. This is particularly relevant in content area subjects in the secondary school where many teachers have not had access to pre-service literacy training and, traditionally, teaching approaches have been content focused. Moreover, contemporary schools are now places characterised by linguistic, cultural and social diversity and coupled with Australia's push for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), it is helpful if science teaching incorporates productive (student engagement) and inclusive (student diversity) approaches. A discursive analysis of classroom talk excerpts from three science lessons is used to make comparisons: one from early in the project where the nature of science teaching was investigated and two as a result of findings from investigating the first. The talk was coded using an IRE (initiation-response-evaluation) structure to show how student activity and engagement increased as a result of a pedagogical change. The findings of this research have implications for the way content areas are taught in some secondary schools.

Lesley Friend

Papers

IRE and content area literacies: A critical analysis of classroom discourse