Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-9knnw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-07T13:54:04.771Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Dialogue for Reasoning: Promoting Exploratory Talk and Problem Solving in the Primary Classroom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2009

By
Sylvia Rojas-Drummond ,
Laura Gómez  and
Maricela Vélez
Edited by
Bert van Oers ,
Wim Wardekker ,
Ed Elbers  and
René van der Veer
Sylvia Rojas-Drummond
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Laura Gómez
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Maricela Vélez
Affiliation:
National Pedagogical University, Tlalpan, Mexico
Bert van Oers
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Wim Wardekker
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Ed Elbers
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
René van der Veer
Affiliation:
Universiteit Leiden
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, we present a study based on previous investigations carried out through a nine-year collaboration between the Open University, in the United Kingdom, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In this endeavour, we seek to understand as well as to promote diverse cognitive, discursive, and cultural processes involved in the social construction of knowledge in Mexican and British primary school children. The data reported here address the development and promotion of a particularly effective type of talk, called “exploratory talk,” as a discursive tool to facilitate social and individual reasoning in Mexican children.

Our research follows a sociocultural perspective, whose fundamentals are rooted on the seminal ideas of Lev S. Vygotsky (e.g., 1962, 1978), and which have given rise to several and varied developments that can be included in this approach, in spite of their heterogeneity (e.g., Brown and Reeve, 1987; Cole, 1985, 1996; Coll, 1990; Coll, Palacios, & Marchesi, 2001; Elbers et al., 1992; Lave, 1991; Light & Butterworth, 1992; Mercer, 1995, 2000; Newman, Griffin, & Coll, 1989; Rogoff, 1990; Wertsch, 1985a, 1985b, 1991). This perspective has produced a great number of theoretical and methodological contributions, including particularly fruitful applications to understanding development and learning, as well as promoting social and educational processes.

The sociocultural perspective assumes that cognition and other psychological phenomena are situated in and take their meaning from the social and cultural practices in which individuals participate.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
The Transformation of Learning
Advances in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
 , pp. 319 - 341
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Andrews, R. (1995). Teaching and learning argument. New York: Cassell.Google Scholar
Andrews, R., Clarke, S., & Costello, P. (1993). Improving the quality of argument, 5–16: Final report. Hull: University of Hull, School of Education, Centre for Studies in Rhetoric.Google Scholar
Barnes, D., Britton, J., & Torbe, M. (1990). Language, the learner and the school. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.Google Scholar
Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and thinking: A rhetoric approach to social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bronckart, J. P. (1992). El discurso como acción: Por nuevo paradigma psicolingüístico. Anuario de Psicología (Universidad de Barcelona), 54, 3–48.Google Scholar
Brown, A., & Reeve, R. (1987). Bandwidths of competence: The role of supportive contexts in learning and development. In Liben, L. (Ed.), Development and learning: Conflict or congruence? (pp. 173–223). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Candela, A. (1990). Investigación etnográfica en el aula: el razonamiento de lo alumnos en una clase de ciencias naturales en la escuela primaria. Investigación en la Escuela, 13, 13–23.Google Scholar
Candela, A. (1995). Consensus construction as a collective task in Mexican science classes. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 26 (4), 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Candela, A. (1997). Demonstrations and problem-solving exercises in school science: Their transformation within the Mexican elementary school classroom. Science Education, 81, 497–513.3.0.CO;2-5>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Candela, A. (1999). Ciencia en el aula. Los alumnos entre la argumentación y el consenso. México, D.F: Paidós Mexicana.Google Scholar
Cole, M. (1985). The zone of proximal development: Where culture and cognition create each other. In Wertsch, J. (Ed.), Culture, communication and cognition: Vygotskian perspective (pp. 146–161). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Coll, C. (1988). Significado y sentido en el aprendizaje escolar: Reflexiones en torno al concepto de aprendizaje significativo. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 41, 131–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coll, C. (1990). Aprendizaje escolar y construcción del conocimiento. Barcelona: Paidós.Google Scholar
Coll, C., & Edwards, D. (Eds.). (1996). Teaching, learning and classroom discourse. Madrid: Infancia y Aprendizaje.Google Scholar
Coll, C., Palacios, G., & Marchesi, A. (Comp.). (2001). Desarrollo psicológico y educación: Vol. 2. Psicología de la Educación Escolar. Madrid: Alianza.Google Scholar
Dawes, L., Mercer, N., & Wegerif, R. (2000). Thinking together: A programme of activities for developing thinking skills at KS2. Birmingham: Questions Publishing.Google Scholar
Edwards, D., & Mercer, N. (1987). Common Knowledge: The development of understanding in the classroom. London: Methuen/Routledge.Google Scholar
Elbers, E., Maier, R., Hoekstra, T., & Hoogsteder, M. (1992). Internalisation and adult-child interaction. Learning and Instruction, 2, 101–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinman, S. (1992). An integrative look at social referencing. In Feinman, S. (Ed.), Social referencing and the social construction of reality in infancy (pp. 3–14). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernández, M., Wegerif, R., Mercer, N., & Rojas-Drummond, S. M. (2001). Re-conceptualizing “scaffolding” and the zone of proximal development in the context of symmetrical collaborative learning. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 36 (2) and 37 (1), 40–54.Google Scholar
Forman, E., & Cazden, C. (1985). Exploring Vygotskian perspectives in education: The cognitive value of peer interaction. In Wertsch, J. (Ed.), Culture, communication and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives (pp. 323–347). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Freedman, A., & Pringle, I. (1984). Why students can't write arguments. English in Education, 18 (2), 73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gergen, K. J. (1992). El yo saturado: Dilemas de identidad en el mundo contemporáneo. Barcelona: Paidós Iberica.Google Scholar
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Hammersley, M. (1986). Revisiting Hamilton and Delamont: A cautionary note on the relationship between “systematic observation” and ethnography. In Hammersley, M. (Ed.), Controversies in classroom research (pp. 44–48). Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Hicks, D. (Ed.). (1996). Discourse, learning and schooling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jadallah, E. (2000). Constructivist learning experiences for social studies and education. Social Studies, 91 (5), 221–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, A. (1994). Guiding knowledge construction in the classroom: Effects of teaching children how to question and how to explain. American Educational Research Journal, 27 (4), 664–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, A. (1995). Inquiring minds really do want to know: Using questioning to teach critical thinking. Teaching of psychology, 22, 13–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraf, R. G. (1975). The dead of argument. College English, 36 (5), 548–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, J. (1991). La cognición en la práctica. Barcelona: Paidós.Google Scholar
Lemke, J. (1993). Talking science: Language, learning and values. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Leontiev, A. (1981). Problems of the development of mind. Moscow: Progress.Google Scholar
Light, P., & Butterworth, G. (Eds.). (1992). Context and cognition: Ways of learning and knowing. Hertfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Maybin, J. (1994). Children's voices: Talk knowledge and identity. In Graddol, D., Maybin, J., & Stierer, B. (Eds.), Researching language and literacy in social context (pp. 131–150). Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Mercer, N. (1992). Culture, context and the construction of knowledge in the classroom. In Light, P. & Butterworth, G. (Eds.), Context and cognition: Ways of learning and knowing (pp. 28–46). Hertfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Mercer, N. (1995). The guided construction of knowledge: Talk amongst teachers and learners. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Mercer, N. (1996). The quality of talk in children's collaborative activity in the classroom. Learning and Instruction, 6 (4), 359–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, N. (2000). Words and minds: How we use language to think together. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, N., & Edwards, D. (1981). Ground-rules for mutual understanding: A social psychological approach to classroom knowledge. In Mercer, N. (Ed.), Language in school and community (pp. 30–46). London: E. Arnold.Google Scholar
Mercer, N., Wegerif, R., & Dawes, L. (1999). Children's talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 25 (1), 95–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, D., Griffin, P., & Cole, M. (1989). The construction zone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rabinow, P., & Sullivan, W. (1979). Interpretive social science: A second look. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rojas-Drummond, S., & Alatorre, J. (1994). The development of independent problem solving in pre-school children. In Mercer, N. & Coll, C. (Eds.), Explorations in socio-cultural studies: Vol. 3. Teaching, learning and interaction (pp. 161–175). Madrid: Infancia y Aprendizaje.Google Scholar
Rojas-Drummond, S., & Peón, M. (2004). Exploratory talk, argumentation and reasoning in Mexican primary school children. Language and Education, 18 (6), 539–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rojas-Drummond, S., Fernández, M., & Vélez, M. (2000). Habla exploratoria, razonamiento conjunto y solución de problemas en niños de primaria. In La Psicología Social en México (Vol. 8, pp. 403–410). México, D.F.: Asociación Mexicana de Psicología Social.Google Scholar
Rojas-Drummond, S., Hernández, G., Velez, M., & Villagrán, G. (1998). Cooperative learning and the appropriation of procedural knowledge by primary school children. Learning and Instruction, 8 (1), 37–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serra, M., Serrat, E., Solé, R., Bel, A., & Aparici, M. (2000). La Adquisición del Lenguaje. Barcelona: Aril.Google Scholar
Solomon, G. (Ed.). (1993). Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Spears, R. (1996). Discourse analysis. In Manstead, A. & Hewstone, M. (Eds.), The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social Psychology (pp. 120–145). Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Eemeren, F. H., Grootendorst, R, Jackson, S., & Jacobs, S. (2000). Argumentación. In Dijk, T. A. (Ed.), El discurso como estructura y proceso (pp. 305–333). Barcelona: Gedisa.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wegerif, R. (1996). Using computers to help coach exploratory talk across the curriculum. Computers and Education, 26 (1–3), 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegerif, R., & Dawes, L. (2004). Thinking and learning with ICT: Raising achievement in primary classrooms. London: Routledge Falmer.Google Scholar
Wegerif, R., & Mercer, N. (1996). Computers and reasoning through talk in the classroom. Language and Education, 10 (1), 47–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegerif, R., & Mercer, N. (2000). Language for thinking: A study of children solving reasoning test problems together. In Cowie, H. & Aalsvoort, G. (Ed.), Social interaction and learning and instruction: The meaning of discourse for the construction of knowledge (pp. 179–192). Amsterdam: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Wegerif, R., Mercer, N., & Dawes, L. (1999). From social interaction to individual reasoning: An empirical investigation of a possible socio-cultural model of cognitive development. Learning and Instruction, 9, (6), 493–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegerif, R., Perez, J., Rojas-Drummond, S., Mercer, N., & Velez, M. (2005). Thinking together in the U.K. and México: Transfer of an educational innovation. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 40 (1), 40–48.Google Scholar
Wegerif, R., & Scrimshaw, P. (1997). Introduction: Computers, talk and learning. In Wegerif, R., & Scrimshaw, P. (Eds.), Computers and talk in the primary classroom (pp. 1–18). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic enquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wertsch, J. (Ed.). (1985a). Culture, communication and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wertsch, J. (1985b). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wertsch, J. (1991). Voices of the mind: A sociocultural approach to mediate action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wertsch, J. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wertsch, J., Río, Del P., & Álvarez, A. (Eds.). (1995). Sociocultural studies of mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, A. (1986). Argument as a primary act of mind. Educational Review, 38 (2), 127–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, D., Bruner, J., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem-solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Child Psychiatry, 17, 89–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×