Date of Completion

5-6-2014

Embargo Period

5-6-2014

Keywords

listening orientations, middle school teachers, middle school reading, SEM-R, questioning

Major Advisor

Catherine A. Little

Associate Advisor

E. Jean Gubbins

Associate Advisor

Sally M. Reis

Associate Advisor

Tutita M. Casa

Associate Advisor

Robin S. Grenier

Field of Study

Educational Psychology

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

Incorporating higher-level questions into classroom discourse as an instructional practice is one recommendation for challenging readers. Recent evidence has demonstrated that teachers’ effective use of follow-up questions during classroom discourse can be used in a variety of ways to support student learning. Interpreting students’ contributions and then responding with appropriate follow-up questions, while concurrently engaged in discourse around text, requires careful listening on the part of the teacher. Teachers’ listening orientations, or how teachers listen, has gained increased attention in the field of mathematics education. This research has indicated that mathematics teachers listen to students for different purposes. Furthermore, how teachers listen may influence the direction of the discourse and teachers’ selection of follow-up questions and comments. Little is known, however, about how reading teachers listen to their students. In this qualitative study, I investigated five middle school reading teachers’ listening orientations as they conducted individualized reading conferences with students identified as struggling, average, or high-ability readers. The study took place during the first year of implementation of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model—Reading Framework (SEM-R). Applying a basic interpretive design, I analyzed multiple-data sources to discern patterns in teachers’ perceptions and evidence of their listening. Close examination of the data revealed that middle school reading teachers listened to students with different listening orientations including evaluative, interpretive, student-oriented, teacher-oriented, undetermined, and multiple listening orientations. Few differences emerged in how teachers listened to students at varied reading levels as the teachers exhibited primarily an interpretive listening orientation with most of their students.

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