Classroom ecology in a science class: A description of interaction patterns in the margins of lessons

The major purpose of this study of classroom ecology was to describe the patterns of interaction in the margins of instructional activity by a detailed case study of a seventh grade science teacher.;This research sought to characterize the "conversation" between members of the classroom and the curriculum and seek a metaphor to aid the description of particular patterns of classroom interaction.;Four conclusions were derived from this study. First, the metaphor of "margins" is useful for describing a relational component of the ecology of a classroom. Margins are areas in nature and society where diversity exists, where life is often riskier for the inhabitants and where species, and where ideas, and actions are able to have the freedom to flourish, to experiment, and to seek potentialities.;Second, margins are relational. Margins have no meaning without considering what they surround. The "center" instruction (lecture, homework, and tests) is often sterile, predictable, and inhibits diversity in thought and action; whereas, activity in the margins (ideas, questions, and tangents) fosters excitement, diversity, and allows classroom participants to take risks.;The study involved 16-months of field observations totalling 62 days. Interviews, audiotaping, and videotaping were also used to collect data. The analysis of the data was guided by constitutive ethnography policies and procedures.;Third, margins connect the teacher with the students, the students with the content, and the class with the subject material. Margins build a sense of community among the students and the teacher and are part of the pattern which connects the interaction in the classroom together. Finally, margins represent a "place" not a process or technique.