Language interaction patterns in lessons featuring mathematical investigations
Language interaction patterns in lessons featuring mathematical investigations
In this study I consider the way in which children and teachers talk with each other in mathematics lessons featuring investigations. I am concerned with both the texture of the speech and the context within which it takes place. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in London and Dominica. In it I investigate the nature of the space into which an individual, whether a child, a teacher, or an `outside' observer, sees himself acting. I follow Schutz (1962) in showing that this space, which may comprise things and people, is dependent on the individual's view of reality and on how he structures the world he perceives. I also show how the language used by the individual to describe his structuring, affects his perceiving and his acting in the world. I further demonstrate that this structuring is time-dependent, changing continuously as the individual `grows older'. I suggest the individual might perceive some aspects of this change by recognising rituals that occur at the `boundaries' between successive spaces. Also included is a consideration of some of the mediums through which `outside' observers see lessons. This shows that reporting on a lesson necessarily requires introducing personal interpretation. I follow Ricoeur (1981) in identifying three levels in speech as a model for use in describing the way in which people in a lesson see the actions of each other. I suggest that children often respond to the effect of each other's actions without investigating each other's motives. In this way children engaged in group work may respond mainly to the immediate situation whilst a teacher's perceiving may be governed to a greater extent by her lesson plan. Finally, I explore the nature of the personal authority that a practitioner can assume in describing his work and suggest that he can only speak from his own situation and leave others to consider the relevance of his strategies to their own particular problems. With respect to this I have used the notion of Metaphysics, as described by Collingwood (1940) in exploring some of the presuppositions underlying the statements I have made during the course of my enquiry.
University of Southampton
1987
Brown, Anthony Michael
(1987)
Language interaction patterns in lessons featuring mathematical investigations.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
In this study I consider the way in which children and teachers talk with each other in mathematics lessons featuring investigations. I am concerned with both the texture of the speech and the context within which it takes place. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in London and Dominica. In it I investigate the nature of the space into which an individual, whether a child, a teacher, or an `outside' observer, sees himself acting. I follow Schutz (1962) in showing that this space, which may comprise things and people, is dependent on the individual's view of reality and on how he structures the world he perceives. I also show how the language used by the individual to describe his structuring, affects his perceiving and his acting in the world. I further demonstrate that this structuring is time-dependent, changing continuously as the individual `grows older'. I suggest the individual might perceive some aspects of this change by recognising rituals that occur at the `boundaries' between successive spaces. Also included is a consideration of some of the mediums through which `outside' observers see lessons. This shows that reporting on a lesson necessarily requires introducing personal interpretation. I follow Ricoeur (1981) in identifying three levels in speech as a model for use in describing the way in which people in a lesson see the actions of each other. I suggest that children often respond to the effect of each other's actions without investigating each other's motives. In this way children engaged in group work may respond mainly to the immediate situation whilst a teacher's perceiving may be governed to a greater extent by her lesson plan. Finally, I explore the nature of the personal authority that a practitioner can assume in describing his work and suggest that he can only speak from his own situation and leave others to consider the relevance of his strategies to their own particular problems. With respect to this I have used the notion of Metaphysics, as described by Collingwood (1940) in exploring some of the presuppositions underlying the statements I have made during the course of my enquiry.
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Published date: 1987
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Local EPrints ID: 461929
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/461929
PURE UUID: 9ba6ee11-a935-4135-bc9a-b0c53a1a93d7
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:58
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 18:58
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Author:
Anthony Michael Brown
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