Mathematics in a Literary Mode: The Narrative Structure of Communicative Classrooms.

The narrative structure of a classroom event describes the order in which the story of the event unfolds. This paper compares the narrative structure of a traditional classroom to that of a communicative classroom. The comparison is made in the form of a drama in which a communicative mathematics spokesperson relates the comparative mathematics method to an elementary school teacher. The drama is presented in three scenes. Scene I provides the setting. Scene II retells the story of the traditional mathematics classroom. The narrative structure of a traditional classroom is: What, When, How, Why, Who, and Where. In the course of the scene these parts are described. The traditional classroom scenario begins with the curriculum to be covered, the What; followed by the sequence in which topics would be introduced, the When; and the instructional methods to communicate the What When, the How. The Why asked by students is usually related to the What to be learned later. Then the student levels are determined to see Who would learn the What, When, and How. Where this takes place is relatively unimportant in the traditional classroom. Scene III retells the story of the communicative classroom. The narrative structure of this classroom is: Where, Who, Why, How, When, and What. The communicative classroom starts out with the context of the problem, the Where. The setting will then build upon the experiences of the students, the Who, presented with the question to be investigated, the Why. The next steps determine the method of investigation, the How, unfolding When, to discover the mathematics to be learned, the What. A chart contrasting the two approaches is provided. (MDH)