A Teacher's Questions in an Adult Literacy Classroom. Possibilities for Dialogue. CRAEHD Publications Thesis Series.

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  • Additional Information
    • Peer Reviewed:
      N
    • Source:
      156
    • Subject Terms:
      Adult Basic Education; Adult Educators; Adult Literacy; Class Activities; Classroom Communication; Classroom Environment; Classroom Techniques; Educational Research; Foreign Countries; Group Dynamics; Literacy Education; Questioning Techniques; Staff Development; Student Behavior; Student Participation; Teacher Behavior; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching Methods
    • Subject Terms:
      Australia
    • ISBN:
      978-0-86803-071-5
    • Abstract:
      A study addressed the ways in which classroom interaction is structured explicitly and implicitly through a teacher's questions. It examined how this was done through the questions one teacher asked in her adult literacy class and what insights could be gained for adult literacy staff development programs. The research was undertaken in mid-1990 in a technical and further education college in South Australia. Ethnographic methods were used to produce data on classroom interaction; the data, collected from transcripts of classroom discussions, were subjected to analysis informed by critical theory. Contextual data on teaching aims and tensions, teaching session organization, staff development experiences, and reflections on those experiences were used to relate the questions asked and the critical analysis of their consequences to staff development needs for teachers wanting to develop critical educational practices. Findings on questioning practices showed that classroom participation was structured through teacher questions on class procedures, on exploration of knowledge, and on connections between the knowledge explored and students' individual experience. The timing and patterning of questions and feedback to student responses also influenced classroom interaction. In addition, the questions the teacher asked in this study unwittingly constrained discussion. Contains 108 references. Appendixes contain a descriptive report of the study and examples of written passages guiding the discussion. (YLB)
    • Publication Date:
      1994
    • Accession Number:
      ED363718