9 On Learning With and From Our Students

The Authors

Barbara Galbraith teaches a Grade 2 class and MalY Ann Van Tassell a combined class of Grade 1 and Grade 2 children. Through cre­ative time tabling, we have arranged, each \i\Tednesday afternoon, to work together on science with a group of some ffi"enty Grade 2 children drawn from both our classrooms. Although we have been te,H11 teaching together for several years, and have progressively modified am teaching strategies in order to <Jllow opportunities for the children to engage in hands-on investig<Jtions, we were still dissatisfied, when we reviewed our program at the beginning of this year, with the relationship between the questions that the ehildten generated in the course of these investigations and our own teacherly agenda. Specifically, we noticed that, a1th011gh we encour­aged and noted their questions, we did not give them a central place in planning subsequent activities; in a sense, their questions were more <lll

outcome of the topics we taclded rather than a point of departure for their organization. Om own question, then, was how could we arrange for the children's questions to playa more generative role in the planning of the science curriculum?

This question was also of interest to Gordon ,"Veils, a researcher and teacher educator at the university, who, with Mary Ann, is a member of an action research project which is exploring ways to give a greater emphasis to inquiry in the curriculum. "Vith this common interest, we

This chapter ,,",'IS prepared \~lth the assistance of my colleagl.les, Barbara Galbraith and Mary Ann V;,n '1":1",,,11. Aprel1di~·"il· ~. ,·n"·,,,1"I/:' "11 1.1 1.')Oa de desarrollo proximo. By Barbanl Galbraith and Mary !'IiI" V"n '1:1",,·11, :I," 1( ,.. ,,1,.It \ \',.Jl-..lJl A. 1\!vJrez (Ed.) Hlldfl un curriculum mttu'rlll: La Vig<'Ucill ,[,' VY,W,r'/.-J I'll r.lIl"Ii!'\I, 1'1' ., 7" l\h"I,i.l·I""H'hcicln TnElI\cia y AI',·cndi7.aje.

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decided to make the Grade 2 scicncc prllgr.llil thc 1>:lsis (Ill' :1 colhdlO1'.i1I1; investigation in which we would try tu givc a gre~ tel' role to thc chi lell'I'II' questions ~ll1d simultaneously to develop our Own ul1derst~ndjng III III< conditions that made this possible. To this end, we selected one pan i('i1l l

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unit, which will be described in detail below, and made two changes l'•• III. normal classroom arrangements: First, all three of us took part in CWI \

lesson - Barbara and Mmy Ann as teachers and Gordon as [larticip:11I1 observer - and met periodically to reflect on the way in which the 111111

was pl'Ogressing; second, we arranged for each lesson to be recorded /III

audio or video tape, both to aid us in our reAections and also to providl evidence for more system atic ev,l!uation later. We also decided to draw c III

sociocultural theory to provide ~1 perspective ti'om which to make sell'" of our obsenrations <mel reflections.

A Sociocultunll Framework for Learning and Teaching

As teachers, ,111 three or us have h,ld ,1 continuing interest ill language, and it was this th,lt initi'llly drew us to the work or Vygotsk~' and his colleagues and followers. Observing children Je'lrning to talk, w('

had been struck by rhe social ,mel jnteracrive Jl:Hure of" this process _ by the child's need tor interested and collaborative, convers!ltjon~J partners ,md by the importance of there being ,1 shared purpose for engaging il\ conversation (\Vells, 1(86). liVe h,ld also seen similar principles ~ t work in the early St,lgCS o[learning to re;lcl and write (Cianotti, 19(4). V:vgotsky's theOlY of lear[ling and development provided a framework within which these observ<lrions of children's language development rook on ~1 broader significance. In particular, it helped us to understand more clearly the role or a "teacher" in guiding and supporting the child:" innate desire to learn.

For Vygotslq, and for rhose who havc extended and developed his ide,ls, learning is not a separate activity undertaken for its OWl) s,lke, but an integT,ll aspect ofengag'ing iJl the ongoing activi ties ofone's community and, in the process, gT,l(jnally mastering the pmposes of those activities <lild the means by which they are ,1chicved (Lave and ,Venger, 1991). This does not l1le,ln th<lt a child will never independently attempt to learn and practice ~ particubr skill or acquire cert,lin itcms of information, bnt this will ,11w,lyS occur in a 1m'ger conrext wirhin which Wh,lt is learned has a function,ll significance for the child in embling him or her ro <lchieve some goal which is persomdly meaningful ~nd also socially valued.

I\s we have :1lre',I<I) 1101l'cl, Ihis ;lccuunt very obviously describes the \(;:1 rning of langu:1g"c; hut, as Vygotsky (1978, 1981) makes clear, it is <.:qually applicable to ,lll11ost evety other form of cultural knowledge, from Illastering the physical skills needed to particip<lte ill g'ames and organized .~ports, or acquiring the knowledge to design and build honses or navigate ~hips <lnd aircraft, to bringing up children or running' ,1 complex organi­I..a tion. However, in this process of taking over the ,1ecumuLned resources of the culmre, langm1ge - and other sysrerns of represenration, such as drawing, drama and model making' - hJve a particuLarly important role. For not only do they en,ll)le people to coordinate their ,1ctiviries in the here and no\ov, and to share their feelings and intentions, bur rhey ,1lso allow those 'lctivities, feelings and intentions to be referred to indepcJl­dently of the situations in which. they OCClll' so th,lt they c<m become the snbject of reflection, explanation ,md, where appropriate, instruction,

However, these socialmcans of meaning- m,lking and comlllunic,ltion play an equally important role in indi vidu;l] inlellectual development, [ni­tially encountered in the course of interaction with others ,lS rhe me,)JlS of achieving shared goals, rhey become, when mastered, ,1 resource for individual thinking ­ a set of "semiotic," or meaning-lll,lking, tools :md practices which mecliare such intcllcctwll actions as remembering, re,l­soning and problem solving, in the course of activities carried out alonc or in colhboration with ochers. Fron1 this perspective, then, learning to use these cools and pr'lctices lhrough p,lrlicipation in jointly unclew1ken i'

activity con he seen to involve a triple tnmsfonn<ltion: firsr, ,1 transforma­tion of the individual's intellectual functioning and or his or her cap,lci ty for effective pJrticipation in rhe :lctivitYi second, a transforJIh1tion of the situ,ltion brought about by the particip'Hlts' Jctions; ~lJld, third, a n'ans­formation of the tools olnd pracrices as lhey Jre creatively 'ldapted to suit the particnlar sitl1<1tion and ,1ctiviry in which they ,1re used.

In the light of this social concepcion of learning ,wd of its contribu­rion to development, ir is clear thar development cannot bc rhought of ,lS an individu~l accomplishment (Cole, 1(85), On rhe contn1ry, Vygotsl<y stressed the crucial ('ole of more expert members of the culture in pro­viding the guidance and ,1ssistance th,n cnables the learner to become an increasingly competent ,md autonomous participant in the ~crivities

in which he or she engages. r11 recent ye,lrs, this conception of the rehl­tionship between learning and teaching h,ls been described in terms of apprenriceship (Lave and \Venger, 1(91) in the pmposefuJ use of semiotic tools that rakes place through guided participation in shared, culturally valued endeavors (Mercer, 1995; Rogofr, 1(90).

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Exactly what form such guidance should take was a In;lttcr [(I whiciJ Vygotsky returned several times in his later published work (I 97tl, 1(]H7)

3nd itwas in this context thar he formulated his now well-known construct of the "zone of proximal development (zpd)." 10 be effective, he argued, this guidance - or "iustruction" as he called it - must always be in advann' ofdevelopment. Btlt not arbitrarily so. For a learner in any situation, then' is a zone of proxim,11 development - a window of potential learning thai lies between what he or she can man8ge to do unaided and what he or sht: can achieve with help. It is when appropriately pitched in this zone th;H instruction can opti111;1lJy bene1it the learner; for, under these conditions, "learning awakens ,1 v;1riety of developmental processes that are able to oper;lte oulywhen the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90).

Thinking together about the grade two science program with which we were concerned, we had little doubt that the framework we h8ve just outlined would help us to make sense of the issues of learning and teacb­ing that we wished to investig·;lte. And, with its recognition of the active roles of both learners and teachers and its emph'lsis 011 collaborative ac­tivity, the notion of working in the zpd secmedlikely to provide a fruitful stan-iog point for an examination of the pan-ielllar classroom cvents that had occuned and been recorded. However, as we thought about it more deeply, we Soon came to realize that, although i1hlmhlating as a general orientation, Vygotslcy's ,1CCOunt of the zpd offers little specific gnidance for particular classoom situ;ltions. We decided to start our investigation, therefore, by reviewing the di3ta we had recen t1y collected in order to sce when, and to what extent, participants' bell ,1 viour seemed to meet the criteria he provided. In this way, we hoped to develop ,1 clearer under­standing of the different modes of working in the z.pd that might help us to conceptuaLize and pian our future activities.

The Power of an Elastic Band

The theme for the unit we are about to describe was "energy," appro,lched thnmgh a practical investigation of lbe energy that is slored in a stretched or twisted elastic band. We thonght that designing and testing vehicles powered by an elas6c band wouLd provide an Oppol'tuni ty

for "hands-on" experimentation that was within the capa hdities of seven­year-olds, while, from a theoretical point of view, children's attempts to

explain and prediCt the results of possible modifications in design seemed likely to generate "minds-on" activity that would provide ,1 very tangible

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intlOduction to the broad theme of energy in some of its various mani­festations.

We started by brainstorming what the children already lmew about energy, its uses and sources, and on this basis constructed the first of :ll[ many weblike representations of their understanding. Then, rather than asking what specific questions they might like to explore, we moved immediately into the constrnction of elastic-powered rollers, in the be­lief that this would stimulate the children's curiosity and also provide .J

a focus for their inquiries. Drawing' 011 a suggestion found in An Eflr~y

Start to 7i:cfmofop;y (Richards, 1990), we invited the children to hring from home plastic containers of a cylindric·ai shape, sllCh as empty bot­tles lhat had contained fizzy drinks or hand lotion, and then we helped them to construct their rollers. This involved dr.illing small holes in the the cap and the b,lse of the container, through which an elastic bmld W,lS threaded; one protruding end of the elastic b~lnd was then secured at the base and the othcr twisted round one end of a pencil or length or dowel, with a button to act as a w,lsher between container cap ,md dowel. By winding the dowel, the d;lStic inside the cOlltainer became progressively more twisted, thus storing energy, which, when the roller was phced on the Hoor, caused it to roll for some dist,lDce as the elastic unwound.

The preceding description is sornewh;Jt idealized, however. Several children h;ld difficulty in making ;1 mller that would ,1CllJ'111y move and others were frustrated by elastic b;lIlds that broke through ovel'winding, ;,1

thus requiring them to go through the most difficult p,uts of the cons­truction process for a second or third time. Nevertheless, these mishaps gave rise to some quite animated discussion in the review sessions with which each lesson ended, and seven11 important conclusions were drawn from these experiences which were duly recorded on the charts that were compiled during each session.

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Figure 9.1 Example of ,111 elastic-powered wiler !.\1ade from a tiny drink can, From Richards, 1990,

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One question in which everyone was illtcl"L:~tcd wa,; how 1':11" :1 mile, would travel for a given number of turns of the dowel. III Llet, .';Oll\(' I"

the children approached this issue quite competitively Unfollull:ltely, rhl' question proved impossible to answer in any systematic manner, due 10

tl1e less than perfecr hmctioning ofmany of the rollers and to the difficulty of defining; a "b,l!)eline" for counting the number of turns.

However, probably the most signific'lllt of the unanticipated discover­ies W,lS that, while some rollers travelled in a straight line, others circled to right or left. N:lturalIy, we were all interested in discovering why this happened and, as we addressed this problem together at the end of tht' session, seveL1J interesting cxpbnations were suggested.

Origin,llly, our phlll was to conchlde the unit after the experiments with the roJJers. However, given the less tlLlIl s:nisfactory results obtained and the obviolls interest of the children :mel their desire to continue, we de­cided to attempt to apply wh,n h,ld ,11ready been discovered to the design, construction and testing of clastic-powered "cars." The desig'n was sim­ple. Using :1 cardbo,u'd box ,1S the chassis, lengths or dowel were passed throllgh the box at front and rear, and wheels were glued on to these axles. An elastic hand W,lS then secured round the middle of the rear axle and auached to the from of the car with ,I paper clip. Pushing the car backwards camed the elastic to wind round the ax!<-, stretching the re­mainder of the elastic hand in the process. This heC:lI11e the source of power which, when the car was released, caused it to run forward. How­ever, once ag:lin, unforeseen problems arose. In some C<lses, the tension of the elastic band bent the ,ixle and C<llIsed the wheels to ruh against the ch'lssis. And in almost all cases, when a well-wollnd ca r \-vas released on the polished cbssroom HOOf, the driving wheels L1iled to grip ami therefore spun withont moving the car.

AJthough, from the poim of view of moving ahead wi th the experi­ments we had pL1l1Jled, these problems were somewhat disconcerting, they proved, in the long lUn, to be the most v<\luable p:1rt of the whole experience. For, in order to overcome them, the children were ~()rced to try to diagnose the C<Hlse of the problem ,1nc! thell to filld worbble so­lurions. In the end, however, either by L1stening ~lddition,ll el'lstic IXll1ds round the wheels like snow chains or by sticking masking t:1pe ronnd the circumference of the wheels like tires, most of them succeeded and were able to proceed to work on what was considered to be the central question - that of discovering the relationship between the number of times the elastic band WJS wound round the axle and the distance that the car traveled when released. Dliring the next tvvo or three lessons, trials

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were conducted undcr varying conditions and with increasing accurac)', and the results were recorded in a tabular form that was designed for the purpose. Finally, there took place a lengthy whole-class discussion to con­sider what had been observed and to attempt to explain the results. This culminated in ,1 conclusion that no one - neither teachers 1101' children ­had known in <ldvance: Dist<l nce traveled equals the numher of times the elastic is wOllnd round the axle multiplied by the circl1lnference of the wheel.

Having thus bricHy summarized the way in which the unit developed, we shollid now likc to consider some of the events in mOre detail. Our purpose is to explore whether the notion of "working in the zone of proximal development" helps 11S to underst,md their sigJJificance and, at the S:lll1e time, to ev,11U:1te the adeqmlcy of that notion, ,1S initially fornllllaled.

Exploring the Zone of Proximal Development (zpd)

'16 aid us in this task, we have distinguished - as Vygotsky did - between two different modes of working ill the zpd, namely adnlt­child ,lnd child-child. These modes 'are not IllUtll:1lly exclusive of one another but, rather, are interdependent. They do not necessarily occur on sep,lrate oCC<lsions within Ihe classroom nor are there clearly est:lblished boundaries between them. However, in order to foclis on attributes within e:1ch mode, we will start by discussing them separ:ltely. First, we will consider the adult-child relationship, focusing on how the adults helped the stlldents in the zpd, both individlwlly and as a community.

Adult Assistance in the zpd

On an individual level, we had m,lI1y opportLlnities to assist stu­dents while they constructed their rollers and cars :mel then conducted tests. On the level of the classroom community, by contrast, the oppor­tunity to help students consolidate and extend their le,lrning occurred in the whole-cbss discussions that typically beg,m :wd ended the weekly lessons. Essentially, then, there are two forms of the zpd relationship bet­ween adult and child to be considered: working in the individual child's zpd, and in the larger, communal zpd.

Somc attributes of the adult's role were C01111110n to both sitllations. For example, bec<luse of the structure of the learning environment, which el1<lbled the students to be engaged in authentic activity that was context

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dependent, we were able to observc thc sludclll.~' ,ICI i()n~, III lLh inc! ivi d II:III.\'

and as a group, and then intervene in ways L"J1at vite hoped would hll'ilil;tlt. their further understanding. In both situations, a key feature of the teach<.'l' role was that it was generally responsive rather than initiatory.

As an illustration of ,1 group situation, let us consider the start of each lesson, when we wonld spend ten-to-fifteen minu tes as a whole-class plan­ning the task for the day. As teachers, we started each session with a specific direction in mind, hut this was often altered as we reviewed the previous bunings with the students and listened to their immediate questions or proGlems. This opening discussion was vitn] because it provided an oppoTtunity to consolidate lmow[edge and extend understanding, based on previous sessions' learnings and discoveries and, on that foundation, decide on the next step.

Because we were not committed to "covering" ,1 predetermined lesson plan, we were 'lble to be responsive to the students in the light of whal we perceived to be the most ::Ippropri<lte direction. For example, in thc instance below, we h'ld th011g'ht we would move students into attempting to answer their own individT131 qTlestions. They had 'llready spent several weeks experimenting with their cars, and we had begun to build a base of community knowledge that was recorded on charts that were displayed for all to see. In pbnning the Jesson, we had decided that we would invite the students to pose ql1estions on the basis of their results to d,lte and then form small groups to try to ,H1swer their questions. However, once the lesson started, we sensed lhat the students needed more experience in conchlcting' tests <Jnd creating charts in which to record their results before they were ready to design and cany ant their own investigatious. In responding in lhis way, we were working in d1e communal zpd. And so we developed ,1 chart together and the students set ,1GOllt exploring the satne ql1estion, namely: "I-low far will the car travel with !1J<1sking tape on the wheels, with no m8sking tape on the wheels, nnd with rubber b,1nds on the wheels for different turns of the axle?"

Independent Group Activities

liVe then gave the students fifty-to-sixty minutes to work on their vehicles in independent groups. During this time, the adults circulated to offer assistance as needed, responding within <1n individual's zpd. \iVorking in this way afforded us a wjudow into an -individn,1I's thinking and ability level; it also helped us determine the diTection in which to proceed as a community. Belm,v is an example of an -individll<ll encounter; it occurred

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,IS VVl1itney :IIHI 1\('1' IriCllds were having some difficulty in conducting ~atisf,lctOlY trials to answer the above question. fu Mary Ann (Teacher 2 in the foHowing transcript) discovered, they had not been aligning the car with the end of the tape measure and so had not obtained accurate measurements of the dislance that the car traveled with each additional turn of the elastic. After talking with ait three girls for a moment, the teacher turns to vVhitney and asks her to show how they had been carrying out their trials.

06 'Ji:adm' 2: Show me how you do it

07 C(/1"'l'ie: You have to - yOll know - llse the m3rk all the wheel(poinring to the mark)

()8 Ti'(/(:hcT' 2: I-bvc you becnusillg the ]11,lrk to count. how lllany times you're rolling' it).. J-bve yt)ll)

09 TYIJllmy: (nods .,0n)(;wh<1t uncCJ'tainly)

1() Tel/elm" 2: Yeah OK, sbow me then, how you do it For rOllr (VVbitney tenlatively roll:; her car hack, making several fresh start~)

11 vVhittllT It won't - it\; not guing foul', though

12 Tel/elm' 2: Ah-ha l vVerc you cullnhng it when it wenl three? And two) (Whitney nods)

13 'Ji:ac/1IT 2: OK, let me try it

At this point, having watched \iVhitney's ,lctions in order to est;lbJish what her group h,1d been able to do on their own, the teacher t<1kes the car ;1l1d demonstrates how to use the mark on the wheel to count the turns of the wheel ,lS the car is pushed backw<1rds. She then instructs Whitney to pL1ce the tape measure so that the zero is lined up with the point whel:e the back wheels touch the floor. \iVhen this has been done correctly, the teacher releases the car and it rolls forwarel, veering slightly to the right. Tog'ether, teacher and Whitney read off the distance traveled from rhe tape measure: seventy-eight centimeters. Before leaving, the teacher checks to make sure \V"hitney has un de rstooel the significance ofwhat they have just done ragether and suggests that the group should eany out their trials agai l1, paying attention to the accuracy of their procedures.

19 Teacher 2: Hmm l Are yuu sure when you went- .. when you went three tl1,lt you measured it that way? .. bcc,luse do you think if yOll wound it three times it would go that [\\I'?

2() Corrie: I don't think so (Whitney shakes her head in ,lgTeement)

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21 'Ii:adJc1' 2: Now .. did Y"ll 11Iakt· "'111'" Ih:ll (= t;lpc IIlC;lSIII"(;) W~1S lined up at the starting?

23 T¥bitney Um- (shakes her head)

24 Te(uher 2: No, OK, why don't you start again theu, cos that's what you need

to do .. so crase what you did before, now you know how to do it

This functional assisulI1ce leads ":Vbitney to a better understanding of how to conduct ~) scientific test and of how to use the tape as a tool for measuring the distance traveled. ]n the follow-up discussion at the end of the lesson, the event also ,)fforded the teachers ~lll opportunity to discuss the concepts of a t~lir test and an accur;He measurement. The episode can bc seen, then, as an instance of the triple transformation referred to ,)bove. First, vVhitney's and Carrie's capacity for p,lrticipation ill the activity was transformed through their interaction with their teacher. Second, they were able to continue after thc teacher haclleft, effectively tr,ll1sforming the situation so that their subscquent trials were more 'lCCLlr<lte. Third, in taking over the use of these tools and practices, they transformed them into their own individual tesources which they adapted to snit the needs of subsequen t situa tions.

Finally, when we hter reflected on this episode as we discllssed the video recording, there was also a transformation in Our Own understanding of how teachers can most effectively help children to learn. Guidance. and instruction ~lre most helpful, we realized, when they ~lre given in the COntext of <1 parriculaT activity in wllich teacher and stlldellt arc engaged together. For it is by observing how the student is attempting to carry Out the activity that the teacher can judge wha t form of assistance is most useful; and it is when that assistance enables the studen t to achieve success in what she is alreaJy tlying to do th:]t she most readily understands the signific:lI1ce of the new actiou and is able to appropriate it and so to transform her repertoire of actions for use in similar situations.

Whole-Class Review

After this independent worktime, we usually g-~lther the class to­gether to review the d:1Y'S activities. This ten-to-fifteen minutes period gives the students a chance to share the learnings and discoveries from what they have been doing in their separate groups. Often, the students sh<1re the problems they have encouutered and, as a group, we have the Opportunity to learn from the individual situations. During this time, the

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adults serve a.'; LI('ililat())'s, responding to the students' observations and comments. These sessious give us the chance to help them extend their knowledge and apply their learnings further. Because part of our goal is to build a community of scientific inquirers, we consider this coming toge ther at the end of each session to be essential. The entl1l1siasm and curiosity genera ted by the "hands-on" activities are utilized in helping them to develop the "minds-on" knowledge and skills of scientists.

We :llso use this time to discuss issues and problems that we have noticed to be common to several groups during the independent work­time. For example, the diffi.culty experienced by Carrie ,md Whitney in conducting an accurate test was shared with the entire group, and we disclissed the need for precision wben measu ring, so tha t the test would yield :lccurate results. At the beginning of the next week's ses­sion they were reminded of what had been discussed so that, as they continued their investigations, they needed less ~l.ssjstance with regard to the accnracy of measuring'. As a result, they began to take over re­sponsibili ty for the task themselves and, because the discussion of ~lC­curacy grew out of their needs and purposes, it had more meaning for them.

In the review that occurred at the end of the whole unit, the need for accuracy in testing surfaced again when sevenll of the sll.lc1ents talked abollt what they would do in the next unit. The evidence of the progress they h:ld made in this respect can be scell from the following excerpt, as together we consider how they might find out about air.

252 iVfattbcw: We could Ilwke a paper ~lirplane, and we could u,e a fan ,wd see if it could pllSh it?

253 Ttacher 2: OK

254 Teache7' 1: So you'd take an object that uses air and sec HOvV it uses air?

255 Tea(/1el' 2: Do you tbink you could try to do <l TEST?

256]ulia: Yeah, you could try to see how far <md like see how strong' the wind is and then how far it would go *.,** <md then turn on the t~U)

and see how far it would go ***

At this point there is an interruption, A little Inter, Julia repeats her suggestion in slightly different terms:

264 Julio: You would have to, like, put tbe measuring tape from where it started and then tlle plane, and then you'd see how far it would go,

and lhell where it kll, ir it w,,, [00 -'/l<Jrt I hell you'd h'IVt: to ;ldd another one (i.e. another tapt: 1Ilt:;1~U1"(;)

265 Teacher 2: And you also know something about recording, how to

record the information from a test... What did we do with the cars?

266 Lindl'ay: vVhat wc wonlel do was, we would wind it back a certain

number (of turns) with the mark and it would stop. tl1en we knew _ we

would put the measuring tape down exactly at it and would let it go, and then me:lsure where it\ at hy the back wheel

267 Sara: Ye,lh, hecause it wauIdn'!' be accurate if you just- because

some people put (adhesive) tape on their measuring tape, but they

conldn't move it . but they couldn't put it exact, Or they HAD to pick it up and move it- to the wheels, and it wasn't ,1ccUrate

268 Teffchcl' 1: And ~o that's 'lilOthcr thing you learned 'lbollt needing to Ill'lke YOLir llleaSlirell1el1t~ accurate

For ns, ,)S teachers, the <lbove tr<lllscyipt provided evidence ofour grow­ing abillty to be responsive to the students' current goals ,mel stage of development. At the smlle time, we were providing the context and the SUpport needed, within thelr zpd, for them to incre,lse their potential for future partlcipCltion. As om investigCltion proceeded, we made the impor­t<lnt discovel)' that this responsive aplJl'O<lch in Our ill tenlCtions WIth stu­den ts was 'In essential part of successfnlly providing' assistance in the zpd.

Peer ASSistance in the zpd

SociOcult1Jral theol)' suggests that the princip,l1 goal of educa­tIon is to provide an envirollment in which students, however diverse their b<lclcgrOllnd, Cll1 engage in productive, purposeful activities and, in the process, learn to use the cultural tools and pr<lctices that h8ve been de­v'eloped to mediate the achievement of the g081s of these <lctivities (Lave and vVenger, 1991). In the previous section J we kwe illustrated S0111e of the w,lyS in w11ich te;lchers C<ln facilitate this Jearn ing throng'h their re­sponslve interventions. However, as Vygotsky made clem', this learning call <llso be ;lssistec! by other students, through the help they give each other <1S they work together colbboratively on jointly undertaken tasks.

The irnportance of peer <lssistance became very <lpparent to us as we reviewed the recordings we had made, both of the small-group practical work <1nc! of the whole-class discussions. Observing their interactions, we noticed sever<11 ways in which children provided assistance in each other's zones of proximal development.

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One il1l/l01'1:1Ill Corm that this took arose from their persom1and co11<.1­borative involvement in actually making the tools for their investigations, in particular their own cars. There was a strong element of ownership here, as they were the "authors" of their own experiments. For this reason, they were very willing to both give aud receive help in order to make sure their cars "worked" and that they followed correct proceclnres.

In the following' elJlsode, children are working with partners to test how far their cars will go with increasing- numbers of turns of the elastic rouuel the axle. They are also investigating three conditions: b,lre wheels, elastic round wheels, 8nd lTlasking' tape round wheels, in order to test the hypothesis that increasing the wheels' grip will increase the distance trav­elled. Julia and Simon are working together. In her science log, ]uJi<l is preparing' her table of results, following the format previously agreed and shown on the b08rd. She is writing, in advance, the number of turns to be tested on each tri<ll. Simon looks over to see how Julia is constructing her t<lble. Noticing this, Juli,l takes Simon's book and turns to the next bhmk p<1ge.

04 Julia; There .. just. _. do th:n .. (dclllon,,>u'ating to Silnon how to

prepare his tllble) and then turn it lih~ th,l1, dnl\v II lillt' and then !...'!:.

05 S'imol1: No, I'm doing it this way (tuming'IIJck to the previous pagc

in his boolC which is two-thirds written on)

06]uliil: But you're going to have to write that ~U11l ,md that's nOL

going to be enoug'h room (pointing 10 Simon's p,lge) You have to write "rubber b;md," "no rubber baud," "ma,king t,lJ-le" (Simon foHowsJuli,l'S suggestion ,mel starrs on ~1 fresh page)

A few minutes later, they h,:1Ve finished their ta bles and are te<1dy to start their trials. Juli<1 suggests that Simon have the first turn. \,yhen she sees that he is having difj-iclllties, she instructs him in how to do it. Simon starts to lJush his car backwards to wind it up, while J lllia monitors his 'lCtions.

12.Julia: Did you pUt a mal·k - how many times-?

\\fhen Simon seems uncertain, Julia takes over ,me! pushes the car back, counting the turns, while Simon watches. Together, they count three turns. Then Julia places the car with its front wheels approximately lined up with the end of a tape measure stretched out on the floor and releases it. VVhen it stops, she marks the poiut the frout of the car has reached along the t<1pe measure and they both read off the distance.

16Julill: Oh" thjrty-two- yllt!- Ol(

17 Simon: Thirty-three

18 Julia: Thirty-three." put "thirty-three" 011 your chan

19 Simon: "No rubber bands" (writing in his science log)

20]u/ia: Thirty-three. put. put "em" (leaning over to supervise)

21 Simon: "em" (adding this to his entry)

As JUIi'l and Simon worked together, Julia was obviously directing Simon: shoWing him how to make a chart and how to mark his wheel to make an accur,lte test. Simon W,lS in no way resentful of this; he simply accepted and used the advice. On a videotape, we later observed Simon working with AJex and directing him in a similar way. In other words, Simon had not only appropriated the specil1c experimental procedures from working with Julia; he had also appropriated the practice of assist­ing others and was able to join in building and extending opportunities for inquiry in OUr classroom.

In the large group discussions, students frequently compared their cars and this led to problem solving and an incre<Jse in effective participation that helped them to extend their understanding. Even those children who were not verbalizing their ideas were totally focused, as we observed in the course of watching many video recordings and floting the attentive watching and listening. Those children who had not made connections while doing their tests were given new insights from the connections and understandings expressed by tl1eir peers. They were then able to take the ideas gleaned from the whole-class discnssion and apply them in further tests on their own cars.

Similar comparisons took place in the small groups while they were working together. For example, here is how Julia described what she had learned while working with Gaelan.

78 Julia: Gae1an - when we put Our um- seeing how tar our cars were going, he did the thing wid1 the paper and we did it marked on the whee! and he had a good idea. After eighteen _ like I think it W~lS around eighteen or something, I'm not sure - after we did that. um . I would have a guess how far it would go ifI gave it two turns, and it went two turns aronnd

79 TeacheT 1: So you were predicting

During the course of a discussion, chiLdren would often turn to each other when a problem arose and ask qnestions of each odler, request a

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clarification, or uffer an alternative suggestion. In this way, tlle group as a whole was able to transform the knowledge they had each constructed from their own experiences into "common Imowledge" (Edwards and Mercer, 1987), building a deeper level of understanding in their ,rocial talk from which each appropriated i'l1.dividua1l:Y what made sense in terms of the understanding with which he or she started. This is dearly apparent in the following excerpts from a whole-class discussion that occurred toward the end of the unit.

Many of the children had discovered that, when the elastic had been wound a considerable number of turns, the driving wheels of their cars spun without gripping, and several design modifications had been at­tempted to overcome this problem. Annalise and Carrie had both tried 'adding weight', Annalise by pressing down on her ca r as she released it and Carrie by actually putting a SO g wei.ght on top. However, while Carrie's strategy had heen successful, Annalise's had resulted in her car slowing down. As they discussed these differing results in an attempt to resolve the apparenr discrepancy, Lindsay - who had also used the strategy of applying pressure, and who h,1c! been listening carefully to Annalise's account - sllggested that, for this strategy to be sllccessful, "you would just have to have the ri.ght pressure."

But it was also important to understand why applying appropri,He weight or pressure would have this effect. VVithout it, as Lindsay ob­served, the wheels wOlJld just spin - an observation tlwt several other children corroborated. At this point,]ulia refers to her experience with a different attempted solution:

Julia: That's exactly what happened to my car when I put i\: on the floor withom rubberhlllds on .. it skidded on the ground. You need something to push the wheels down so they (;111­

and this prompts Annalise to break in with a new idea:

Anl1alise: And more friction, , to grip the way on the ground

and this, in turn, leads another child to introduce the term "tr<Jctioll." Summing up the discussion at this point, Barbara restates their col­

bboratively produced explanation as follows:

'Teacber 1: So MAYBE what was happening with Carrie's car is that just putting that LITTLE BIT of extra weight me,mt th~lt the wheels were tonching the ground more - or MORE of the wheel was touching the ground, so it was able to get better traction

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What was reJllarLJ!lle ahout this disClissillll, ~1I1d others likc iI, W:l:, III<'

extentto which the helpful contributions C,lllle from the childrcn. Per!I'lp'. because they had shared similar experiences, it was they who seemed ill"11

able to understand each other's difficulties and so to provide the most" ;1/1

propri8te assistance. In the above example, as we have seen, it was Linds;).I' and Julia who made the contributions that enabled Annalise to move fro II I

her initial very specific observation to a much more general understanding - a person'll transform ation that was, to a considerable extent, shared bv the other members of the class, as the snbsequent discussion made de'lr.

Of Course, this does not mean that teachers have no role to play. The success of the whole-class discussion just refelTed to was critically de-­pendent on our structuring moves - reFormula tions, requests for ebbo­ration and occasional sumJ1laries of Wklt hac! been established. Indeed, it is by contributing to the discussion in these ways that we believe We

C,lll best ,Issist the children's cnrrent participation in the inter-mental gen­res of problem-solving discourse ,md thlLS provide a model from wllicn they can, over time, appropriate the resources lor intnr-memal problem solving in the discourse of "inner speech." But, in restricting Our contri­butions - for the most part - to structuring moves, we created a "forum," as Bruner (1990) characterizes this form ofclassroom discussion, in which thc children were able to offer their own ide,ls ,lnd havc them evaluated ,md extended by their peers as well ,1S by their teachers_

For us, ~lS teachers, this was ;)Jl import;m t discovery. Le;lrning, we re­,llized, does not depend on a one-way How of knowledge from te,lcher to students. \-Vhen ,111 are interested iJl solving a problem, any member of the group JI1,ly make a contribution that helps tow,lrd a soluti on. Put dif­ferently, providing assistance in the zpd is a function, not of mle or st,ltUS, hut of the collabocation itseJf: £:lch participant can potentially act in ways that ,1ssi$t the other\ ,mel ,111 can learn from the others' contribntions,

The Key Role of Language

As sever,11 of the preceding examples have shown, an important part of the collaboration th,11" took pLlce ;Hound the building and testing of the cars and in the follow-up discussions involved the development of an appropriate .scienti6c ,md technicallangnage to en,lb1e the children to comlllunicate their ideas and discoveries. They not only talked 'lbollt alld hi beJed diagrams of their cars, lLsing words like "axle," "hub," ,mel "wheel circumference," bllt 'llso used and explained terms like "friction," ''trac­tion," and "pressure." This langnage came, not fj:om the ,ldults presenting

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,md defining thesc terms in f01'111alless0115, but from the practical expe­riences and experimenting that the children themselves were engaged in. In this way, they were recapitulating the manner in which the formal reg­isters of scientdlc description and expbnation were developed, over many centuries, by practicing scientists as tools to assist them in the <lctivity of doing science (Halliday and Martin, 1993). ,I

Recording ideas in writing played ,1 particularly significant role in this burgeoning ofscien tilic hll1gl1age. For example, following one of the prac­tical sessions, Alexandra wrote in bel' science joumc1l: "Tod'lY our group made Sllre we got ;lCUf<l1" ;lnswers on how E·lf our cars move. First we looked at]ansens car. After 2 minutes me anc! btie realizised that}ansons cars wheels were ntbbing against thc box Lh~ltS called friction. Then the car wouldcnt go very far because there was to much friction." n

"We also made a pnlctice of recording ide,ls that emerged in whole­ !,

class discussion 011 large sheets of chart paper, the exact fornmb tion being negotiated by the teacher in collaboration wi th the children. 'fhis practice helped the children to focus on what was happening, and why. It also provided a collective record of our emerging understanding, to which individual children could refer as they m;lde their own entries in thei.r science journals.

Engaging in writing ,1S well as in talking certainly helped the children to extend and consolidate thei r llIH1erstanciing or tbe concepts involved in this investigation of encrgy. They theJnselvcs were aware of its irnport~lJlce

~lS an integnll part of "doing science" <.mel approached it enthusiastically. This was apparent from their comments in the interviews that were con­ducted at the end of the unit, which included <1 qnestion <lsking jf writing in science had helped their learning. Alexandra replied: "When you write stull. _You can always remember it and thcn, when you share in groups yOlI can write more stuff so _so whatever you share yOll le,un more."

In her own way, Alexandra was resta ting a key precept of sociocultural tl1COIY: Artifacts, such as written texts, can also function as tools when they are used for problem solving on subsequent ocC'lsiOl1s. So, both the act of writing aud the texts that are produced can assist learners in their zones of proximal development, as they use them as means for fonnubting cmd extending their understanding of the activity in which they are engagcd.

Teachers Learning in the zpd

In the writing of this chapter and in the work that it reports, our focus has been on exploring how teachers can best provide for the learning

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and development of others. And we havc ccrtlinly found that 1"!1C ('('lilt '( '1'1 of the zone of proximal development hJS helped us in our t;lsk, Ilmvcv('l, in concluding, we feel it is essential to emphasize that this concept appl iI", equally to our own learning. Like the studeuts we teach, we ton I"!l't., I to extend our understcmding and improve or chauge our practice ,llld, as we have discovered, we too can be assisted in doing so through dll' use of tools such as video and ;lUdio recordings, through reading tlw work of other ednc8tors and, most particularly, through exploratory ,\nd constructive discussion with colleagues \I;ho share our commitment til learning.

To begin with, as we reflected together 011 the WJy the unit on elastic­powered vehicles had developed, we were most aware of what we had learned. And there was certainly J Jot to he said about that. Perhaps it can best be sUI1lmed up in the recognition, expressed by Barbar,l and Mary Ann, that anthen tic<llly to assist others in their zone of proxima1develop,. mem nccessit;ltes a shift in one's llnclerst;l11ding of one's role as teacher. \Vhat is involved is not just a rethinking of one's goals, considered in terms of desired lea l'lling outcomes, but also a recognition that the nature of the journey thM teachers and learners make towatd those Outcomes is equally important.

As classroom te;Jchers, we felt a large responsibility for "covering the curriculum," However, wh,lt we carne to recognize W,lS t11,lt we h,ld ne­glected the fact that we were not ,11011e: that covering the curriculum ,lIso required students' active colla bora tion. The question we tben began to asj, ourselves was whether we trusted the students enough to guide us in fulfilling this responsibility. Over the preceding two years, we had observed many exciting anc1 authentic !eaming sitm1tions develop when students h,l d an active role in the direction ,lnd course of study, but we had been reluctant to trust the implications of these observations, As a result of the present investigation, however, we recognized that a m'ljor shift h3d occurred iu Oul' underst,\I1ding ofour curricular l'esponsibiJities.As iVbry Ann wroLe:

We have come 10 identify r-IWI rhe lllO~t important thing we do in our science cbss is lim-en. We li~ten in order to ask questions. Because our foclls has ~hifLed to assisting StlJdellls in rheir zpds, wc are able to listen to the students and to e,lt:ll other. We did not know rhis was the shift we needed to make, nor did we 'lllticipate it ,11 the outset, bm ir W,lS the most significant learning for us.

In corning to understand more fully what it means to te,lch and leal'll in the %One of proximal developmellt, we h'lVe identified the act of being respon~ive and the shift jn perception of our role as being necessary to authentically heip anyone in

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their zpcl, Thc'e 1WI) (,It''II(;IIL, have been the most significant contributing factors to (lUI' feeJjng~ or .'llCCC~~ in science instruction this year_ And, as with all learning, they h~lVe carried ovCJ' into all other areas of our teaching.

The change in us, as teachers, was reflected in our interactions with the cbildren ;lnd in the cbanged climate of the classroom, Students' questions ancllUlowledge were ,IS valued in the learning proces~ as tbose of the teachers, Consequently, the students were s11pponcd in their effons to make sense of their world and were IUotivated to take risks ro fUl'lher their own under~tandjngs. Because or this ~lt:t of being responsive, both to the stnc!ents and to each other, the knowledg-e constructed over the course of rile unit was much deeper <lnd more meaningFul than we bad anticipated,

Thinking aboLlt the changes that h~ld taken place as most obviously manifested in the quality of classroom in ten1ction led us b\lck to thinking about the bow of our own learning, and we all quickly re,dizecl th\lt inter­action with eJeh other had pbyed a critical part. Of p,Hticul3r importance was the discussion of p,lrticular events tb,lt h,1cl struck one 01' other of us as sig·niflcmlt.

As alrc1cly mentioned, Barban1 and Mary Ann Illet regu!<Jrly after school to review e,\ch week's lesson and to prep;ne for the next, ,md Go,don joined them on several oCC<lsions. And it W,lS in these meetings tha t some oC the most ill1portm1t insights were developed. Because of our cOlllpkte illvo]vernent in the ongoing 'lctivity, it was difficult for us, as c!;lSSL'OOlll teachers, to t'lke ,m objective view of what W,IS happening in our classroom; the perspective of \l participant-observer thus helped ns to reHect on the processes that were ta king placc and on the reasons for our decisions and actions in p;lrticular situ<\tions. In addition, the ability for all three or us to review the events we were interested in by replaying the Videotapes we bJd l11'Jde added signiJiC<ll1t1y to the richncss of our discussions.

For instance, in one session when we were reflecting on ,1 whole-chlss discussion 'lbout the rollers the children had made, Mary Ann recllled a question she had put to the class, asking them to compare two rollers: "Can YOlI see a similarity between the two rollers that would make them go in a str<light line?" Gordon's question was, "Where did t11,lt question come hom? W11,lt led to the asking of that question'" This encouraged M<lry Ann and Barb,w1 to reRect on how, while 'lcknowledging ,\nd valuing the students' W,lyS of thinking ;lbollt an issue or problem, ,1 teacher's lluestions can direct the discussion to another level 0 f understanding, It aIso prompted them to recognize that the questions themselves were an indicJtion of their own Increasing 'lbility to "let go" and to listen to the children for direction.

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.\ 12 Learning and leaching i11 the ZPD

This, in tnrn, led us once more to the import'ant recognition th,lt assist­ing in the zpd is not unidirectional. As teachers, we can help learners by the qnestions we ask and the guidance we give. But we C,1I1 Ollrse)ves also receive heIp and guidance frol11 the questions and suggestions oflearners - if only we are ready to accept them. \iVhen we allow this to happen, how­ever, we set in motion a radical transformation. Instead of being a place where inert and impersonal knowledge is tranSInitted to passive receivers, the classroom becomes a co7Jt'lmtni~y ofinqui-ly, in which knowledge is col­laboratively constructed, as ,111 particip<ults engage together in activities to which all are comm.itted and to which e,lch contributes as he or she best can, according to the demands of the specific simation (Rogoff, 1994). Tn snch a community, as we have discovcred, jointly undertnken activity creates a context in which (tiL participants - teachers and teacher educa­tors, as well as students - can assist e,lch other in their zones of proximal development, as each teaches ancllearns from the others.