Educational practices and peer-assisted learning: analyzing students’ interactive dynamics in a joint drawing task

Different schools apply different educational approaches, and different learning concepts interpret knowledge in different ways. The two dominant perspectives classify learning as the acquisition of knowledge, or as participation in school practices. In order to support teachers in choosing the educational method that best fits their teaching perspective, it is important to increase our understanding of underlying interactional processes. This study addresses this question, by analyzing the interaction between students during a joint drawing task. Forty-three grade-three Italian students participated in this study: 22 students attended a classroom based on the acquisition metaphor of learning (teacher-centered approach), whereas 21 attended classrooms based on the participation metaphor of learning (Senzazaino: Without a backpack for School Communities). Students worked in pairs and each pair had to draw their school. Each session was videorecorded and transcribed. Students’ interactions were subject to micro-level analysis in terms of discourse moves, communicative functions and interaction sequence. Data substantially confirmed that the educational environment influences students’ interactive dynamics and communication patterns from the early grades onwards. Joint drawing was shown to be partially dependent on context. The theoretical and practical implications of this are discussed in the article.