Improvisational science discourse: Teaching science in two K-1 classrooms

Improvisational teaching is informed both by students' interests and ideas and teachers' deep understandings of curricular goals; it is purposeful, but not predetermined. This approach contrasts with teacher-dominated classroom discourse in which discussions are controlled by the teacher and focused on the transmission of facts.This paper examines the instructional practices of a pair of exemplary K-1 teachers in order to better understand how they responded to students' unexpected insights about science to further their participation in scientific practice. The analysis focuses on two episodes in which the teachers improvisationally transformed students' unexpected insights. We identify discourse strategies that helped the teachers provide the structure and flexibility for students to improvise scientifically: positioning students as scientists and expanding scientific repertoires.