Multivocality in Interaction Analysis: Implications for Practice

Abstract

While the focus of this book is generally to explore whether multivocal analysis of the same dataset can lead to productive interactions among researchers and possible theoretical and/or methodological developments that this may bring about, this chapter explores whether such multivocality would have meaningful implications for practice. Our analysis demonstrates that irrespective of the analysts’ theoretical or methodological constructs, whether the work has pedagogical relevance depends largely on the purpose and focus of the analysis. A meaningful analysis from the practice perspective can be made by researchers who do not themselves generate the data, and using analytical methods that are grounded on theoretical frameworks different from the ones underpinning the pedagogical practice contexts from which the data were collected. Pivotal moments that are directly linked to the subject matter domain being studied are likely to be easily appreciated by teachers as relevant to their practice. However, not all pivotal moments have direct relevance to pedagogical practice. Further, this preliminary study as provides substantial evidence that the multivocality in interaction analysis can be productive in providing valuable insight and pedagogical support to teachers interested in implementing collaborative learning in their everyday practice. Overall, we find that multivocal interaction analysis can contribute to two types of relevance to practice: those that can inform more immediate pedagogical decision-making and those that provide more general insight and understanding to the processes and outcomes of learning and knowledge building in collaborative contexts.