Reasoning about telling in rehearsals of discussions: Considering what, when, and how to “tell”

Telling is often set in opposition to student-centered approaches to teaching. However, current research supports a more nuanced approach that considers what, when, and how one might tell. Using a practice-based approach, we investigate the ways in which rehearsals of leading discussions offer opportunities for secondary pre-service teachers to learn about telling. Through analyzing video of 13 rehearsals with seven pre-service secondary teachers, we found that learning opportunities fell into three categories: unlearning a reliance on telling, reasoning about the role of telling, and learning strategies for telling. This study demonstrates the potential of rehearsals to support novices to connect ideas about telling to the work of leading discussions.