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Interaction and gender — Findings of a microethnographical approach to classroom discourse

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Abstract

The aim of the present study is to reconstruct teacher-student acting to find out whether there are gender-specific methods of managing classroom situations and gender-related patterns of interaction. The findings reveal that over the long run the gender of the participants is immaterial. There are, however, gender-related modifications of the ordinary interaction patterns. They result from gender-specific practices on the part of the students and from the corresponding actions on the part of the teachers. Five types of gender-related modifications have been reconstructed. The methods which enable students to participate successfully in the interaction process have become more common for the boys than for the girls. Therefore the boys appear more mathematically competent than the girls.

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Jungwirth, H. Interaction and gender — Findings of a microethnographical approach to classroom discourse. Educational Studies in Mathematics 22, 263–284 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00368341

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