Instructional Conversations

When I heard the words "instructional conversation" for the first time, I assumed this was what every teacher did, all day, every day.  But after learning more about it, I realized that I was very wrong.  There is so much more that goes into it, and it is definitely worth it for your students in the long run.

First off, I should probably explain what an instructional conversation is.  According to Claude Goldenberg, in his article Instructional Conversations: Promoting comprehension through discussion, an instructional conversation is an engaging interaction between students that "promote analysis, reflection, and critical thinking" (317).  These types of discussion focuses on teaching something through open conversation with the students.  The students should be working off of each other, instead of the teacher asking a question and one student answering.  He explains how this kind of interaction creates an optimal learning space, and the students have to use higher order thinking skills throughout the conversation.  During this, the teacher should have some questions and/or talking points prepared for when the conversation dies down, but overall the teacher should sit back, be a mediator, and let the students lead.

After reading Goldenberg's article I realized that this definitely doesn't always happen in the classroom.  It is very difficult and time consuming to set up a classroom like this, and I think that is why a lot of teachers don't do it all the time.  Also, it is very difficult to think an instructional conversation could be used during a subject like math; where there is actually one right answer. 

I definitely get how hard this can be to implement, but I am going to try to use this in my future classroom as much as I can.  It is a great way for the students to use critical thinking, and to practice social skills that will be important later in life. 

I will be doing one of these instructional conversations for my class, so stay tuned for how it goes.

Here's a couple of links to websites and tips for instructional conversations:

Education.com IC article
Summary of Goldenberg by Ronald Gallimore