Teachers’ interventions in science education at primary school. The role of semiotic resources during argumentative interactions in classroom

ABSTRACT

Background

In the field of science education, adults often set up practical-based activities with the idea of stimulating children’s reasoning and approaching science in a playful way. Although the potential role of objects in stimulating social practices has been considered in the literature, how teachers work on semiotic aspects of argumentation is still less explored.

Purpose

In this paper, the purpose is to identify how practice-based experiences settled up by teachers shape children’s argumentation in science education.

Sample design and methods

We analyzed argumentation in science tasks involving a total of 39 children (6–7 years old) and their three teachers, coming from two different classrooms of cycle 1 (Harmos, grades 3–4)¹ recruited in the French speaking-part of Switzerland. The tasks were video-recorded and then transcribed. Through the lenses of the pragma-dialectical approach, we selected the argumentative discussions emerging during the experiences and we performed a qualitative analysis of these interactions, by looking at different semiotic resources: speech, gaze direction, deictic gestures, and position of physical objects.

Results

The findings show that teachers play a crucial role in sustaining children’s argumentation by the integration of different semiotic resources during the activities.

Conclusion

As argumentation in classroom evolves through the mobilization of various communicative tools, the present study can contribute to strengthen the interplay between different channels of interaction during science education at primary school.

KEYWORDS:

• Science education
• argumentation
• teachers’ practices
• primary school children
• semiotic resources

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data supporting the reported results are stored on a password-protected institutional server.

Notes

1. Compulsory schooling consists of eleven years, between the ages of 4–5 and 14–15, divided into three cycles: cycle 1 HarmoS grades 1–4; cycle 2 HarmoS grades 5–8; and cycle 3 HarmoS grades 9–11.

2. Two teachers were working part-time in the same class, which is why the population of this research includes three teachers working in two classrooms.

3. The PER («Plan d’études romand», in French) determines a global project for the pupils’ education. It describes what pupils should learn during their compulsory education and the levels to be reached at the end of each cycle.

4. The MER («Moyens d’enseignement romands», in French) refers to the different printed textbooks used at school by teachers and students.

Additional information

Funding

The APC was funded by the University of Lausanne.