A Mixed-Methods Case Study Exploring Relationships Among Teachers' Practices, Thinking, and High-Quality Student Discourse

• In Event: Connections Between Inquiry-Based Teacher Practices and Student Outcomes

Abstract

Overview

Researchers have long called for inquiry-oriented learning in social studies classrooms (De La Paz, et al., 2017; Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). Inquiry provides a context for student discussions grounded in intellectual work and civic preparation (Lee, White, & Dong, 2021). There is momentum to support uptake of inquiry-oriented teaching that places students at the center of learning (Grant et al., 2017; NCSS, 2013). Yet, this demands a shift in classroom practices. Across subject areas, researchers have identified instructional practices that support inquiry-based classroom discussion (Monte-Sano et al., 2019). While research suggests relationships between instructional practices and student outcomes (O’Connor & Snow, 2018), we do not fully understand the instructional practices and teacher thinking associated with high-quality student discourse.

Research Questions:
1. Do we see high-quality student discourse in the classrooms of teachers participating in PD focused on social studies inquiry?
2. How do instructional practices of teachers in classrooms with high-, medium-, and low-quality student discourse differ?
3. How does the metacognitive thinking of teachers in classrooms with high-, medium-, and low-quality student discourse differ?

Methods

Data were drawn from a Design-Based Research project to develop a PD model that supports inquiry teaching in social studies. Participants, five middle school social studies teachers, participated in four learning cycles each consisting of attending PD, videotaping instruction, and reflecting.
Our mixed methods case study design uses classroom video recordings to measure student discourse (length, quality, disciplinary focus, and student participation) and teachers’ instructional practice (scored using PLATO for Social Studies protocol rooted in PLATO for ELA, Author et al., 2013). We coded interviews, surveys, and analysis of student writing to investigate teachers’ metacognitive thinking using codes developed with pilot data.

Results

Q1: Students in two classrooms demonstrated high-quality student discourse: student-talk made up 28.5-30.5% of class time, with 33-59% of students talking, and talk distributed across all inquiry phases.
Q2: In classrooms with high-quality student discourse, teachers scored higher on uptake of student ideas. However, the pattern is less clear for scores related to opportunities for student talk, suggesting that providing opportunities for talk is not sufficient for high-quality student discourse.
Q3: Teachers in classrooms with high-quality student discourse value and are curious about students’ thinking; seek out solutions rather than blaming students; have a more advanced epistemic stance and see students as epistemic agents and sense-makers.

Significance

Linking student outcomes to teachers’ instructional practice and metacognitive thinking allows us to examine the nuances of practices that seem fruitful for student learning and consider why some teachers enact those practices while others might not. We found that a distinguishing factor was teachers who see students as sense-makers in that these teachers integrated their disciplinary orientation with their orientation to students, which affected the quality of student discourse and, essentially, student learning. The implications for PD are to focus on teachers’ support for classroom discourse, conception of the discipline, and valuing of students’ thinking. Our future research explores how changes in teacher practice and thinking relate to changes in students’ discourse.

Authors

• Amanda B. Jennings, University of Michigan

• Chauncey Monte-Sano, University of Michigan