Discourse for Learning - Integrating Math & Science Practices using Discourse Tools

 75 percent of employers claim the students they hire after 12, 16 or more years of formal education lack the ability to think critically and solve problems -- despite the fact that nearly all educators claim to prioritize helping students develop those very skills. (Haber, 2020 Time to get serious about teaching critical thinking.) 

Critical thinking (thinking in logical and structured ways) is hard to teach and hard to test.  It takes explicit instruction on critical thinking procedures and techniques. But the benefits of a focused and explicit effort to teach critical thinking are worth it. Critical thinking skills have the ability to transfer to any content area, and the procedures and techniques used to teach these skills can be integrated across most if not all domains. Math and science especially have many points of integration including their increased focus on critical thinking practices. Engaging in the practices of math and science allows for ideal environments to apply these critical thinking procedures and techniques. 

 So how do we explicitly teach students how to think in logical and structured ways? One way is to use discourse for learning.  This is not just kids talking about what they are learning at school, but it is students using discourse as a tool to learn and critically think about the content they are engaging with.  That takes equitable discourse in math and in science. 

Creating experiences that the students will engage in will be the most ideal place to implement discussions like in the first image. They are built to employ equitable discourse! 

Math and science both have 8 practices that should guide how we plan and build our lessons and units. They are built to employ critical thinking skills. We have made this chart that shows how closely aligned these practices are and how easy it is to integrate these practices.  When you take the time to explicitly teach one practice in the domain of science, you are going to see the benefits when you implement similar practices in math, and vice versa.  When you make your instruction "Practice-based" you are integrating in one of the most effective ways you possibly can. The five circles show you the common themes of the Practices listed on the left and right columns. These five themes can guide your integration efforts. 

Math & Science Practice-based Instruction Takes Time:

"We know from experience that creating opportunities does not guarantee that students will feel comfortable stepping forward into those opportunities. All students need time to get used to the idea that teachers are genuinely interested in their ideas, and not just in getting to the right answer quickly. Some students may come from cultures in which students are expected to learn silently and to memorize what experts tell them. Other students may be full of interesting ideas, but have little experience in how to insert them into the flow of an academic conversation, or little confidence that their classmates will have sufficient patience with their sometimes halting or imperfect language use." (WIDA Focus on STEM Discourse: Strengthening Reasoning, Strengthening Language, Jan 2017)

How Do We Get Started With Discourse For Learning?

 We first have to allow ourselves the same patience and understanding as we give our students as we implement something new, or refine what we already do.  But start with the tools provided in the links below, and take to heart some of these tips in this chart.