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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Selected Works

Curriculum

2007

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Promoting Student Engagement In Science: Interaction Rituals And The Pursuit Of A Community Of Practice, Stacy Olitsky Jan 2007

Promoting Student Engagement In Science: Interaction Rituals And The Pursuit Of A Community Of Practice, Stacy Olitsky

Stacy Olitsky

This study explores the relationship between interaction rituals, student engagement with science, and learning environments modeled on communities of practice based on an ethnographic study of an eighth grade urban magnet school classroom. It compares three interactional events in order to examine the classroom conditions and teacher practices that can foster successful interaction rituals (IRs), which are characterized by high levels of emotional energy, feelings of group membership, and sustained interest in the subject. Classroom conditions surrounding the emergence of successful IRs included mutual focus, familiar symbols and activity structures, the permissibility of some side-talk, and opportunities for physical and …