What is the teacher’s role during exploratory talk?
Should you correct misconceptions during exploratory talk?
Your role now has shifted slightly. You now need to take the time to carefully plan questions that build on and craft the discussion you want to take place. (More on this tomorrow!)
During this type of talk it is essential that the children do not get overshadowed by you. By this I mean that if a misconception is discussed and not sorted it would be easy add the teacher to step in and put this right. However in doing this you potentially invalidate the talk taking place between the children and are essentially saying that teacher talk is more important than child led talk.
Rather than chance this happening you could take note of the misconception and address this during a plenary asking what others think of the point that was made. Try to facilitate the talk so that the children reach the right conclusion without invalidating the talk that had occurred.
