An application of Habermas' rationality to the teacher's actions: Analysis of argumentation in two classrooms

International audienceIn this paper, I argue that Habermas' components of epistemic, teleologic, and communicative rationality provide insight into the differences in teachers' support for collective argumentation. I examine the teacher's supportive actions in two different classrooms. In their interactions with students, the teachers emphasize different components of rationality. I suggest that teachers may act in ways to support students' development of components of rationality by asking different kinds of questions and raise the question of whether it is useful to consider the components separately