It’s Good to Talk: Changing Classroom Talk

Aims of the Session: Moving from exploring talk to changing talk in the classroom Consolidating the thinking addressed so far in this project; Reflecting on classroom use of talk; Developing an action project to change classroom talk; Preparing for final presentation.

Reflecting on Classroom Talk Write a critical reflection on the talk issues in your classroom, what strategies have helped, and what still needs to be improved.

Reprise ‘…far more attention needs to be given, right from the start, to promoting speaking and listening skills to make sure that children build a good stock of words, learn to listen attentively and speak clearly and confidently. Speaking and listening, together with reading and writing, are prime communication skills that are central to children’s intellectual, social and emotional development.’ The Rose Report 2006 ‘Thought is not merely expressed in words – it comes into existence through words’ Corden 2000

Reprise Talk allows us to::  formulate ideas for the first time,  reformulate our ideas so that our thinking and understanding is clarified, focused or modified;  communicate our ideas through interaction and feedback;  reflect upon our learning through talk Howe 1992

Collaborative Talk Collaborative: we learn with other people (socially constructed knowledge) Critical: participants engage with their own ideas and others in a constructively critical manner Challenging: ideas and opinions are challenged, with evidence, reasoning and hypothesis Consensual: the talk moves towards a consensus agreement, or an agreement on the grounds of difference

Dialogic Talk Monologic teacher – concerned to transmit knowledge; convey information; and maintain control of talk Dialogic teacher – concerned to create authentic exchanges, learning through exploration and collaborative talk Teachers’ concerns with what they want to teach sometimes means pupils don’t learn. ‘However unequal the balance of knowledge between teacher and learner, there is no way in which the knowledge of the teacher can be transmitted directly to the learner.’ (Wells 1986)

What does dialogic talk look like? Children share a common goal or purpose Children allow each other to speak Children ask questions in order to understand better Children paraphrase or reflect back each other’s words Children are prepared to express uncertainty or tentativeness Children try to make their own point as clearly as possible Children explore differences of opinion Children give arguments to support their ideas Teachers talk less!

Teachers’ Talk Teacher-led whole class talk: In primary, a child’s response averages 4 words High-achievers volunteer more and are invited to answer more Teachers’ questions need teachers’ answers An emphasis on pace leads to closed responses Teachers have a turn for every alternate utterance Teachers’ contributions to the talk are longer and more extended Teachers control the questions Teachers control who answers

Teachers’ Questions  Most questions are factual, requiring a closed response, often of one or two words  Speculative and Process questions account for 28% of all questions  More speculative questions in literacy; more process questions in numeracy  Teachers ask questions about things they know the answer to; but children don’t ask questions about things they don’t know the answer to  Questions don’t always promote exploration of ideas and concepts

P4C: Year 2-3 children Teacher: Why did the mother think that her baby was best? Child: Because it was beautiful. She thought it was beautiful. Child: She thought it was beautiful because she was the mother. Teacher: What does it mean to be beautiful? Child: It means someone thinks you are lovely. Child: You are perfect... Child: Good to look at. Teacher: Can you be beautiful even if no-one thinks you are lovely? Child: No. You can’t be beautiful if no-one thinks you are beautiful. Child: You can be beautiful inside, you can feel beautiful...

Year 4 Questions about God Who made God? Who is God? How was God made? How old is God? How did God make the world? Why was God made? Is God real? How did He make us? What does Heaven look like? Why is God so special? Why does God make thunder? Why did God make us? Why did God make the devil? Why does God kill us? Why did God make swear words?

Listening Classrooms? ‘Children should be seen and not heard’; ‘Stop talking’ ‘Please listen’ ‘Are you listening?’ Listening is very often linked with behaviour, obedience and compliance, not with an active sense of developing spoken interaction and learning through talk.

What makes a good listener? Paying attention Showing you are listening, with your body as well as your ears Providing feedback (smiles, nods, mm) Asking questions to check understanding Giving the speaker time to speak (ie no interrupting) Replying to what they have said rather than what you want to say.

Talk to support idea generation Talk to plan text outline Talk to support phrase or sentence construction Talk to collaborate with peers Talk to reflect on writing Talk to share writing Talk to hear printed text aloud Talk to support peer and self-assessment Talk to share writing strategies Talk for Writing

Interviewing children Think about it as an opportunity for talk! Could it be used as part of a talk activity? Different players?  Teacher – child  Teacher – pair or group  Child - child  Older child – younger child  Parent - child What do you learn? What does the child learn?

January 18th: Presentation Two rooms for presenting; 15 minutes per person: 10 minutes presentation and 5 minutes discussion; Use PPT for the presentation and bring on a USB stick; You might find it helpful to use the structure of the ‘Planning your Intervention’ as a structure for the PPT; Real examples of classroom strategies are very helpful; Photos and sound clips would be great!!

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