Related Data for: Thinking and talking like a geographer: Teachers’ use of dialogic talk for engaging students with multimodal data in the geography classroom

Geographical inquiry is an approach to learning that acknowledges the constructivist view of knowledge and prioritises the need for students to make sense of what they are learning for themselves. Alexander (2003; 2008) advanced dialogic teaching as a strategy for eliciting students’ understanding and engaging students in using language as a tool for constructing knowledge. This suggests that the successful use of geographical inquiry as a pedagogy entails learning how to think and talk like a geographer. Geography teachers in Singapore are encouraged to use inquiry-based pedagogies in order to help students understand the nature of disciplinary work in geography and as the main route to knowledge construction (CPDD, 2013; 2014). This chapter draws on a study that examines geography teachers’ language knowledge for content teaching (Morton, 2018) through the use of dialogic talk to guide multimodal data analysis, interpretation, and knowledge construction in geography. Using examples of teachers’ enactment of knowledge in the classroom, we suggest how geography teachers can help students make sense of geographical data through greater attention to language use. We further argue that exploring the qualitative dimension of using dialogic talk as a pedagogic strategy addresses a gap in geography education and contributes to the growing body of work on disciplinary literacy.

地理探究是一种契合建构主义知识观的学习范式，其核心要义在于让学生自主阐释所学知识的内涵。Alexander（2003；2008）将对话式教学（dialogic teaching）提出为一种激发学生理解、引导学生以语言为工具建构知识的教学策略。这表明，将地理探究作为教学法成功应用的前提，是掌握像地理学家那般思考与言说的方式。新加坡鼓励地理教师采用基于探究的教学法，以帮助学生理解地理学的学科研究本质，并将其作为知识建构的主要路径（CPDD，2013；2014）。本章节依托Morton（2018）的一项研究展开，该研究聚焦地理教师的学科教学语言知识，通过运用对话式话语引导开展地理学领域的多模态数据分析、解读与知识建构工作。结合教师在课堂中开展知识教学实践的案例，本文探讨地理教师可如何通过强化语言使用的关注度，助力学生理解地理数据的内涵。本文进一步指出，对将对话式话语作为教学策略的质性维度进行探索，既可填补地理教育领域的研究空白，也能为不断丰富的学科读写素养研究成果贡献新的学术价值。