Contribution
Description: The use of discussion as a means of learning is of acknowledged theoretical and educational importance, however, within the primary sector and particularly within primary science it is presently under-researched. Given the current 'creativity' agenda within primary school education in England, the use of talk is not only timely but as presented here, is an innovative means of developing children' understanding of scientific concepts. This research is set against a backdrop of the recent shift in educational thinking which places the child back at the centre. The adoption of talk, in particular, within small peer discussions, and its potential power in helping children to come to a joint understanding of primary science concepts and perhaps more generally concepts across all areas of learning is considered here. A social constructive theoretical framework is adopted as the basis of this paper.The main findings of a research project which was designed to help children to use discussion as a means of developing their joint understanding within a primary science context are reported within this paper which closely examines what strategies children appeared to be using to develop their conceptual understanding within their discussions and whether there were any patterns emerging in the nature of the discussions undertaken across a number of groups. How children drew upon their life world and school knowledge is demonstrated through their oral exchanges which show how these children "legitimate the world picture" (Martin et al. 1976), they are constructing through the use of their discussions. Problems and issues of setting up the pupil discussions are considered and suggestions are given for how the primary school teacher may facilitate for such discussion within primary science. The teachers' role in helping children to develop their scientific understanding is examined and suggestions are made concerning the feasibility of adopting such discussion groups within the current climate in primary education.
Methodology: Case Study Video and Audio recordings of Small Peer Group discussion about a science based topic at Primary School Level A case study located within a Key Stage Two class (Y5 Age 9-10) is discussed in this paper. The impact of small peer group discussion on children's collaborative learning is presented. By examining the interaction between children talking about lifecycles in human beings, it is possible to indicate how these children may have helped to develop each others understanding of this area and further how they might use discussion as a strategy to develop their ability to learn across the curriculum. Optimum group size for discussion and the personal learning styles (as indicated by the children and their teacher) are examined and the relevance of this on the dynamics of the discussions which ensued is considered here. The development of a method for enabling children to engage in and sustain discussions with a science focus is elucidated upon.
Conclusions: How well individuals within the groups understood that the instrument provided could help them to sustain their discussions seemed to be related to how well they understood the value of the insrtument as a way of increasing their independence and possibly to how well individuals adapted to new situations as displayed through the social semiotics they exhibited on the video recordings taken of the groups in discussion.
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