ABSTRACT
Teachers engaged in inquiry-based science attempt to build on children’s ideas and prior knowledge toward mature concepts and practices representative of the discipline (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993; National Research Council, 1996). Guided by basic constructivist principles, they are committed to immersing children in a community of practice rich with experiences, ideas, and scientific tools. And yet, educators have been led to ask in recent years how children will learn about the formalities of language meaning and use associated with academic success when it is the children’s own ideas and questions and their everyday language and experience that are central in this view of teaching (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993; Delpit, 1995). This is of particular concern in relation to children who do not speak English as a native language and children from families that are not immersed in school-based ways of talking and acting. How do children learn school-based and discipline-based ways of talking in school? What do educators need to do to insure that this happens?
