Franks, Anton; Jewitt, Carey; (2001) The Meaning of Action in Learning and Teaching. British Educational Research Journal , 27 (2) pp. 201-218.

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Abstract

Action is a highly theorised aspect of social life nonetheless it remains a relatively neglected source of data within educational research. This paper attempts to highlight the significance of the analysis of organised action within educational research. It describes and demonstrates an analytical approach to action applicable to the classroom developed from approaches to the analysis of bodily communication and action in drama education (Franks, 1995 & 1996) and from new approaches to rhetoric developed in the research project ‘Rhetorics of the Science Classroom’ funded by the ESRC (Kress, Jewitt, Ogborn & Tsatsarelis, forthcoming). These approaches draw on social semiotic theories of making meaning in order to describe the complex relationship between the semiotics of social action and the situated experience of learning in the classroom. This paper describes how action realises meanings and shapes classroom interaction through the application of the schema to video data from a science lesson on energy with year nine pupils (14 years-old). Finally, it draws attention to the research and pedagogical implications of a focus on action in the science classroom and in education more generally.

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