Teachers’ discourse in relation to research-based equity-oriented group work practices

Abstract Implementing group work to foster equitable collaborative learning, while attending to students’ evolving mathematical ideas, is highly complex. As educators increasingly adopt group work to expand student participation, examining equity-focused practices embedded in teachers’ group work enactment (via discourse) is critical because routine group work risks unintentionally reproducing inequitable social structures. This study explores the questions: To what extent and in what ways did teachers’ discourse reflect equity-oriented practices while enacting group work? Research-based equity-oriented group work practices (EOGP) were used to deductively code transcripts of fourth and fifth grade teachers’ discourse during group work in thirty-three randomly sampled mathematics lessons. This indicated that the presence of EOGP reflected by teachers’ discourse varied considerably. Then, cycles of pattern coding unveiled emergent themes related to the ways these codes showed up in teachers’ discourse. The findings demonstrate how upper elementary teachers’ discourse reflected a spectrum of EOGP, notably including descriptive accounts of sharing authority with students. These accounts serve as valuable resources for educators aspiring to implement equity-minded pedagogical changes in their classrooms related to group work.