The Co-Construction of School Knowledge in Secondary School Ecology Classes: An Analysis of Teacher Discourse Moves

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify, describe, and analyze teacher discourse moves (TDMs) that promote the shared construction of school knowledge (SCK) in the context of teaching socio-scientific issues related to biodiversity. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, a case study was conducted to analyze discourse data (audio recordings and contextual records of classroom interactions) collected as part of a design-based research (DBR) project. The DBR project was previously conducted at a secondary school in Córdoba, Argentina, and involved a fifth-year Ecology teacher and 16- and 17-year-old students. Classroom transcripts were analyzed in two phases. Episodes within the transcripts were identified during the first phase of the analysis. During the second phase, individual utterances were analyzed, and teacher discourse moves (TDMs) were identified through researcher consensus. The analysis identified eleven TDMs that promote the construction of shared school knowledge. Three main categories of discourse moves emerged. First, the retrieval and reinterpretation of knowledge developed through previous experiences enabled students to connect classroom learning with experiences beyond the classroom. Second, the negotiation of terminology and meanings established a shared frame of reference, aligned participants' language with the thematic focus, and supported the development of new concepts by distinguishing scientific meanings from everyday understandings. Third, dialogic dictation enabled the co-construction of knowledge that became institutionalized as legitimate school knowledge by incorporating both teachers' and students' perspectives. This study supports the premise that language is a mediator of thought and thus enables collective cognition and the construction of shared school knowledge. The study concludes that teacher discourse moves are important instructional strategies for achieving intersubjective convergence from both a synchronic perspective (i.e., identifying, organizing, and building on students' ideas and responses at a given moment) and a diachronic perspective (i.e., establishing enduring connections across different moments of classroom activity). The findings also suggest that both practicing and preservice teachers should reflect on their role in fostering the shared construction of school knowledge and expand their repertoire of strategic teacher discourse moves.