ABSTRACT
In the Anglophone education literature, active learner constructions have tended to identify talking in the classroom as an indicator of student engagement (Shaw, Carey & Mair, 2008). Student-centred learning approaches advocate classroom methods, including group work, presentations and in-class questioning which are dependent on oral communication as a key mechanism for student-to-student and student-to-lecturer contact (Buswell & Becket, 2009). Consistent with the notion of Socratic argumentative/dialogic learning, the pedagogical foundations of such constructions of learning are culturally rooted and may not reflect social learning traditions which take a different perspective on silence and talking (Ollin, 2008). At the same time, contemporary notions of reflective learning identify a concern with quiet thinking, silence and critical contemplation in the intrapersonal learning process (Moon, 2004). Within this paradoxical context an interesting strand in the discourse emerges focused on the degree to which silence is a public or private phenomenon and how far it is intrinsic to the collective learning process in the classroom.
