While much is known about how teachers can promote discourse among students and how students, in turn, help each other, little is know about how teachers’ verbal behaviours affect students’ discourse and learning during cooperative learning. This chapter builds on research undertaken by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) that identified the differences in teachers’ verbal behaviours during cooperative and whole-class instruction. Two studies undertaken by the author are presented. The first study examines the difference in teachers’ verbal behaviours during cooperative and small-group instruction while the second study discusses the additive benefits derived from training teachers to use specific communication skills to enhance students’ thinking and learning during cooperative learning. The chapter also discusses how students model many of the verbal behaviours their teachers use in their own discourse with their peers to promote thinking and learning.
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Gillies, R.M. (2008). Teachers’ and Students’ Verbal Behaviours During Cooperative Learning. In: Gillies, R.M., Ashman, A.F., Terwel, J. (eds) The Teacher’s Role in Implementing Cooperative Learning in the Classroom. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-70892-8_12
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