The guided construction of knowledge: talk amongst teachers and learners

Mercer (director, Center for Language and Communications, Open University) uses examples of conversations recorded in and outside of classrooms to show how teachers and learners working together succeed and fail in the guided construction of knowledge, a communication process that involves both teaching and learning. He illustrates how the ways teachers use language can be analyzed in social context and describes language techniques commonly used by teachers for developing a shared version of educational knowledge with their students. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.