Praxis Thesis

Over the summer of 2024, my co-teachers and I observed the verbal communication of 20 of our 2.5-almost 6 year old preschool students in order to find out what we can learn through this observation about our students and their communication in the classroom. In analyzing these observations, I found the following: 1) all communication serves a purpose; 2) students view teachers as facilitators, role models, and holders of abilities and knowledge; 3) students view themselves and their peers as facilitators, role models, and holders of abilities and knowledge; 4) teachers place students as and make space for students to place themselves as facilitators, role models, and holders of abilities and knowledge; 5) students communicate to follow rules and morals; 6) students enjoy communicating with their teachers and peers, and 7) verbal communication sometimes does not occur when teachers expect it to or can be “incomplete”. In this paper, I explore these ideas using constructivism, speech act theory, and various ideas about communication, community, observation, and reflection.