Buckley, B: Talk and Learning

This book is based on the premise that lack of attention is paid to speaking and listening in the classroom and that little opportunity exists for peer collaboration. It outlines a research project that focuses on the attitudes of teachers and children to speaking, listening and collaborative work. It also considers opportunities for working with peers and talk between children. The quality of children s interactions are analysed to investigate whether paired and group work support learning. It is located firmly in the qualitative tradition and data collection took place by means of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews; observation and recording of children s talk; along with discourse analysis of children s transcribed dialogues. The book provides valuable background information and case studies for classroom teachers and also for students in Initial Teacher Education. There is useful material for Initial Teacher Educators but is of wider interest to staff and students from both Childhood and Education Studies courses. The findings are equally relevant to anyone who is interested in children s communication skills and how collaborative work can support learning.