Meaning Making in Secondary Science Classrooms

This book focuses on the talk of science classrooms and in particular on the ways in which the different kinds of interactions between teachers and students contribute to meaning making and learning. Central to the text is a new analytical framework for characterising the key features of the talk of school science classrooms. This framework is based on sociocultural principles and links the work of theorists such as Vygotsky and Bakhtin to the day-to-day interactions of contemporary science classrooms.

* presents a framework, based on sociocultural theory, for analysing the language of teaching and learning interactions in science classrooms
* provides detailed examples and illustrations of insights gained from applying the framework to real science lessons in Brazil and the UK.
* demonstrates how these ways of thinking about classroom talk can be drawn upon to inform the professional development of science teachers.
* offers an innovative research methodology, based on sociocultural theory, for analysing classroom talk.
* expands upon the ways in which sociocultural theory has been systematically applied to analysing classroom contexts.

This book offers a powerful set of tools for thinking and talking about the day-to-day practices of contemporary science classrooms. It contains messages of fundamental importance and insight for all of those who are interested in reflecting on the interactions of science teaching and learning, whether in the context of teaching, higher degree study, or research.

A history and politics graduate from University College Dublin, following the completion of his MA in Film and a subsequent short stint working in television, Philip Scott moved from his native Dublin to London in 1999, where he went on to study journalism. Philip has worked in financial journalism for the past six years. He began his career on specialist titles such as Investment Week, Money Marketing and Bloomberg Money before moving to The Sunday Times and then subsequently to the Daily Mail Group's hugely popular personal finance website www.thisismoney.co.uk where he covers pensions and tax as well as investment issues.

James V. Wertsch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.