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Enhancing Students’ Learning Outcomes through Justifying and Guiding Strategies in Classroom Dialogue
Du, Hang
Du, Hang
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Authors
Editors
Date
2026
Educational Level
ISCED Level 2 Lower secondary education
Curriculum Area
Geographical Setting
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Abstract
Context: This study was conducted during a placement at Comberton Village College in the United Kingdom, where classroom observations revealed a prevalent pattern of teaching assistants providing direct answers or completing tasks for students. This outcome-oriented support approach, while maintaining lesson pace, was found to potentially undermine students’ cognitive development and autonomous problem-solving capabilities. The research addresses this pedagogical challenge by integrating two core strategies from the Think-Talk Toolbox framework with Bruner’s instructional scaffolding theory.
Aims: The study aimed to develop and test a teaching assistance model that replaces direct answer-giving with sequenced dialogic strategies. Specifically, it sought to document the feasibility of implementing ‘Justifying’ and ‘Guiding’ tactics within natural classroom conditions and evaluate their effectiveness in fostering students’ thinking. The research focused on transforming teaching assistants’ role from information providers to cognitive guides through structured questioning sequences.
Methods: Data were collected through classroom observations in Year 7 Art & Design and Science lessons, yielding verbatim transcripts of teaching assistant-student dialogues. The methodology employed dual analytical approaches: T-SEDA coding for systematic dialogue analysis and in-vivo coding to preserve participants’ authentic language. Two instructional episodes were analysed to examine how ‘Justifying’ and ‘Guiding’ strategies operated within Bruner’s scaffolding framework to create “scaffolded question chains”.
Findings: Analysis revealed that ‘Justifying’ questions effectively exposed students’ thinking but alone rarely triggered conceptual shifts, functioning primarily as diagnostic tools. The hierarchical ‘Guiding’ moves successfully channelled descriptions toward conceptual labelling.
Implications: The study demonstrates how teaching assistants might transition from answer providers to co-constructors of knowledge through carefully sequenced questioning. The findings suggest that dialogic support models require clearly stepped conceptual ladders and established interactional trust to be effective, while acknowledging challenges in adapting the approach for students with limited verbal participation or in different classroom.
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Description
Keywords (free text)
educational dialogue, scaffolding, questioning strategies, teaching assistants, conceptual development