Whole-Class Interaction and Inclusion in Primary School: A Case Study

Abstract

The paper explores the inclusive implications of the teacher’s management of questions and
feedback in IRE (Initiation-Reply-Evaluation) sequences in terms of all pupils’ participation in the
knowledge co-construction process and the development of a feeling of belonging to the class.
The case study analysis, based on videorecorded data taken from whole-class instruction in a
primary school, shows how turn allocation, question design and corrective evaluative feedback
can play a crucial role in fostering pupils’ participation in the learning process of the class, and
highlights the usefulness of applying a Conversation Analysis approach to studying inclusion at
the micro level of classroom interactions.