Interactivity and Knowledge-Building Discourse in Teacher Team Meetings

• In Event: 61.048 - Discourse Communities and Professional Development

Abstract

This study examined the discourse associated with collaborative knowledge building in teacher team meetings. Nine meetings were analyzed for three teacher teams (3 per team). Analysis examined the degree to which meetings reflected interactivity among participants and used discourse moves associated with knowledge building. Analysis involved comparing the degree to which such discourse occurred across meetings with two purposes: teams either made decisions about assessment systems, or group members shared experiences with instructional activities. Findings indicate decision meetings contained more interactive talk that reflected more knowledge building discourse than sharing meetings. This paper provides evidence that focusing meetings around decisions regarding criteria for classroom assessments is associated with more knowledge building discourse than those in which teachers share classroom activities.

Authors

• Jacquelynn S. Popp, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois at Chicago