No time for silence, just repeat after me: A three study perspective on teacher and child interactions over time

• Published in: International journal of educational research 2023, Vol.120, p.102209, Article 102209
• Main Authors: Kirk, Gillian, Knaus, Marianne June, Adkin, Beverley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Early childhood; Intersubjectivity; Literacy and numeracy; NAPLAN; Semiotic mediation; Teacher and child interactions
• ISSN: 0883-0355; 1873-538X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102209

•Teacher as expert can decrease instantiations of children's thinking time.•Silence can be indicative of quality instruction as teachers respond to children.•Instructional support domain in CLASS does not rate silence as quality.•Non-verbal semiotic resources are deemphasised across different times and contexts.•Language and silences in interactions contribute to power structures. This paper examines data from three separate studies on teacher-child interactions for evidence of verbal and non-verbal semiotic resources across different times and contexts. Each study utilised qualitative methodologies, employing observations guided by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System® manual and teacher semi-structured interviews. Sociocultural perspectives frame the examination of teacher-child mediations of socially and culturally derived semiotic notions and are used to conceptualise findings. Critical Discourse Analysis highlighted how language and silences in interactions contribute to power structures. The study found that while time and context cannot be causal to change, they do correlate with an increasing focus on literacy and numeracy as well as teacher as expert, and a decrease in child agentic participation and instantiations of silence.