Participating in classroom science lessons: Issues of gender and explanatory style

There exists a widespread imbalance in educational opportunities and therefore achievement in science for boys and girls. There also exist bodies of literature pointing to the importance of giving explanations for understanding and to the need to learn to talk science in order to learn science. This study looks at the quantity and quality of boys' and girls' participation in sixth-grade science lessons at an urban alternative public school. The teacher used different discourse patterns, and some students participated more often in one pattern than in another. Access to whole-class discussions was unequal for girls and boys, with boys having more and longer turns than girls. In two of the three lessons, girls were more likely than boys to use their turns to make explanations. Most of the students who were not likely to participate in whole-class discussions, regardless of gender, did engage thoughtfully and actively in small group formats or in non-discussion activities such as writing, diagramming, or conducting experiments. One of the girls who never participated in the whole-class discussions and had philosophical objections to aspects of the curriculum, despite those objections, had still learned much of the science over the course of the year.;It is suggested that although the giving of explanations or the act of actually talking science in class may not be crucial to learning, doing so can validate one's own meanings and enhance one's feelings of inclusion in science lessons. Listening and other non-discussion classroom activities allow peripheral participation. The creation of various formats and activities is conducive to equalizing access to science instruction for the greatest number of students.