ABSTRACT
Recognizing such variation, there has been a great deal of research, stretching back at least 40 years, into the factors that predict it. The research is rich and multifaceted, and any attempt at synthesis is fraught with hazards. Nevertheless, in our view, much of the work can be regarded as following either or both of two broad approaches. The first approach emphasizes the social goals that pupils pursue during classroom interaction. Terminology varies from study to study, but two goals emerge repeatedly: goals relating to the achievement of power and goals relating to the achievement of solidarity (see Brown and Levinson [1978] for an ambitious attempt to develop this approach, albeit not concerned with classrooms). Following the first approach, pupils who push their views upon others during collaborative group work would most likely be interpreted as valuing power above solidarity. Pupils who facilitate balanced turn-taking might be regarded as emphasizing solidarity. The second approach to variation in participation patterns highlights social identity, i.e. the social groups that pupils see themselves as belonging to within the classroom context, and/or that others assign them to. From the multiplicity of possible identities (ethnicity, social class, scholastic ability, etc.), the one that has attracted the lion’s share of research is gender.
