An enduring problem in English curriculum and pedagogy is that listening and speaking, as intricately interconnected interactional practices, are often treated separately. In classroom discussions, attention is predominantly drawn to vocalisation as the key element of dialogue. Furthermore, listening as a silent embodied activity, is often taken…

The Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) sequence dominates whole-class talk and results in limited interactional opportunities for students. This article examines multiple-response sequences identified during a practitioner action research project when a teacher set out to change interactions between herself and her young students. Conversation…

This comparative research study in the context of action research documents the effects of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) on positive participant interactions, student turn-taking and self-advocacy interactions during IEP meetings that focused on student transition to post-secondary outcomes. AI was implemented as a written protocol for conducting IEP…

Background: Art making is a personal and social process in which learners make meaning for themselves and audiences through the production of artifacts. In classrooms, this personal and social process is made concrete through dialogue. Methods: This paper presents an illustrative case study of how sixth-grade student, Jo, developed voice through…

This paper describes a long term project using bespoke video case studies designed and produced as the basis (variously) for formative in-class and on-line forum activity and assessment of group coursework and via case based exam. The research sought to observe student engagement behaviours when faced with innovative teaching methods using:…

Social inventions are new ways of solving human problems. This article reports on an action research project designed to find social inventions to reduce structural lag in four programs that support the transition to adulthood of marginalized youth in Latin America. The investigators engaged youth and staff members in identifying important…

Establishing a communication-rich classroom can be difficult. This article describes the process and findings of a practitioner action research study addressing the question of how teachers can interact with their students while they are working in groups to encourage and enhance student-to-student communication. Recommended research-based teacher…

Relatively little is known about the effect of adult interactive style on children's communication. The aim of this study, written by Lila Kossyvaki, Glenys Jones and Karen Guldberg, all from the University of Birmingham, was to explore the effects of adult interactive style on children's spontaneous communication. The study used an action…

In order for teachers to implement inquiry-based teaching practices, they must have experienced inquiry-based learning especially during science content and methods courses. Although the impacts of inquiry-based instruction on various cognitive and affective domains have been studied and documented little attention has been paid to "how"…

This article examines mathematics teacher collegiality by focusing on both the ways in which teachers interacted as critical colleagues in a long-term professional development project and the evolving role of the teacher-educator-researcher as the facilitator of this project. The professional development collaboration comprised two phases: one…

This study investigated the effect of an interaction between relatively active and relatively quiet boys on their joint activity level. (Author/RY)

This article examines how discourses shaped and were shaped by participants' identities in a participatory action research (PAR) project in a tertiary education environment. The primary researcher and the director of the university's desktop publishing team explored the idea of working together to help the newly formed team to develop strategies…

This inquiry was conducted to develop indigenous research methodology aimed at minimizing the gap between educational research and practice. The intent was not to produce a final or complete solution to the problem, but rather to suggest a procedure which would provide partial closure. Alternative methods, including various types of linkage…

Action science is a communication technique that staff developers can use to increase interpersonal competence and problem-solving skills in schools engaged in the process of school transformation. An example of the action science intervention at a Maryland elementary school is presented. (SM)

In this article, the authors talk about the action research study they conducted involving literature discussion groups. They observed how students spontaneously took up roles as questioners, as emotional responders, as group facilitators, and as information providers without having been assigned roles in literature circles. They then selected…