Perezhivanie and classroom discourse: a cultural - historical perspective on "Discourse of design based science classroom activities"

Flavio Azevedo, Peggy Martalock and Tugba Keser challenge the argumentation focus of science lessons and propose that through a design-based approach emergent conversations with the teacher offer possibilities for different types of discussions to enhance pedagogical discourse in science classrooms. This important paper offers a preliminary contribution to a general theory regarding the link between activity types and discourse practices. Azevedo, Martalock and Keser offer a general perspective with a sociocultural framing for analysis of classroom discourse. Interestingly the specific concepts drawn upon are from conversation analysis; there are few sociocultural concepts explored in detail. Therefore, in this article we focus on a cultural historical (Vygotsky in The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. The history and development of higher mental functions, vol 4. Plenum Press, New York, 1987; The Vygotsky reader. Black, Cambridge, 1994) methodology to explore, analyse and explain how we would use a different theoretical lens. We argue that a cultural historical reading of argumentation in science lessons and design based activity will expand Azevedo, Martalock and Keser s proposed general theory of activity types and discourse practices. Specifically, we use Lev Vygotksy s idea of perezhivanie as the unit of analysis to reconceptualise this important paper. We focus on the holistic category of students emotional experience through discourse while developing scientific awareness.