In contemporary education, the age-old proverb that teachers foster what students think about rather than dictating what to think has received fresh empirical support through innovative research conducted at the University of Kansas. The recent observational study led by Assistant Professor Min-Young Kim delves deep into the classroom ecosystem, revealing that the act of thinking is not merely an individual cognitive process but a socially constructed phenomenon mediated by the intricate interactions among students and educators. This revolutionary insight shifts our understanding of pedagogical practice from a unidirectional knowledge transmission model to a dynamic, collaborative construction of thinking.
Traditional educational paradigms often conceptualize the classroom as a forum where knowledge is transmitted from teacher to student, with learners positioned as passive recipients. However, this study challenges the foundational assumptions underpinning that model, by demonstrating that students actively participate in shaping the collective intellectual experience through a process sociolinguistically referred to as “languaging.” This mechanism transcends the explicit verbal exchange, incorporating nuanced non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions, and postural dynamics, which collectively scaffold the emergence of shared meaning-making.
Kim’s focus was an eighth-grade English language arts classroom engaged in a detailed examination of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Witnesses.” Through several classroom sessions, students moved beyond passive reading to actively analyze, interpret authorial intent, and reflect on the emotional and intellectual resonances of the material. This empirical context offered fertile ground for observing how thinking itself takes shape as a socially negotiated process. The teacher’s deliberate use of phrases like “thinking aloud” functioned not merely as verbal prompts but as invitations to externalize and socially legitimate cognitive processes.
The concept of “languaging” employed in this study offers a paradigmatic shift in our understanding of classroom discourse. Unlike traditional language models that focus solely on semantic transmission, languaging encompasses embodied communicative acts. This holistic approach captures how students and teachers co-construct their cognitive approaches not just through words, but through a coordinated dance of verbal and non-verbal behaviors. For example, students’ hand movements or facial reactions serve as meta-communicative signals that guide and refine the collective interpretative activity.
Accountability played a pivotal role in the formation of thinking practices observed by Kim. The teacher’s strategic queries—such as demanding explanations of why students hold particular beliefs or how they arrive at certain insights—actively engaged learners in metacognitive reflection. This dialogic process instantiated a classroom culture in which thinking was not only encouraged but rigorously examined, challenged, and refined. The effect is a classroom dynamic where students are co-authors of intellectual meaning rather than passive consumers.
A critical observation from the study is the teacher’s valuing of student contributions. Unlike didactic scenarios where student input may be superficially acknowledged or outright dismissed, here the teacher affirmed and expanded upon student ideas, cultivating a collaborative epistemic community. This inclusive stance fostered a sense of shared ownership over cognitive products, thereby reinforcing the social construction of thinking as a communal enterprise.
Kim’s research is groundbreaking in that it directly addresses an under-explored facet of education: the formation of thinking processes themselves. While extensive literature exists on knowledge acquisition and curriculum delivery, relatively little attention has been paid to how classrooms collectively cultivate cognitive frameworks for engaging with content. This study provides a robust methodological blueprint through naturalistic observation and qualitative interviews that future researchers can replicate and expand upon.
The implications of this study extend far beyond a single subject or grade level. The insight that thinking is socially constructed invites educators across disciplines to reconsider their pedagogical strategies. In subjects as diverse as science, history, arts, and physical education, similar languaging practices could prove instrumental in fostering deeper engagement and epistemic agency among students. This reframes the classroom as a vibrant site of collaborative meaning-making where thinking practices evolve and transform dynamically.
From a cognitive science perspective, Kim’s findings dovetail with emerging theories that emphasize embodied cognition and distributed intelligence. The interplay of verbal and non-verbal cues in the classroom supports the notion that human cognition is inherently social and situated, not isolated within individual minds. The teacher’s role, then, is less about delivering fixed knowledge and more about orchestrating interactive cognitive environments where learners curate and refine their thinking collaboratively.
Educational policy and assessment frameworks may also need reconsideration in light of these findings. Standardized testing and rigid curricula often prioritize rote knowledge transmission and individual performance metrics. However, if thinking is socially constructed and context-dependent, evaluative models must account for the fluidity and relational nature of cognitive processes. Kim’s work underscores the necessity for educational environments that prioritize relational and dialogic learning opportunities.
Moreover, this study invites an expanded conceptualization of language within education. Languaging is not mere vocabulary or grammar; it is a complex semiotic system combining speech, gesture, posture, and expression to negotiate meaning and thinking modalities. This multidimensional view challenges educators and researchers alike to develop pedagogical tools that harness the full spectrum of communicative resources available in classroom interactions.
Kim explicitly suggests future research avenues to explore the social construction of thinking in smaller group settings where student-to-student interaction might further illuminate distributed cognition. In addition, examining classrooms across a broader range of disciplines could shed new light on the variations and commonalities in how thinking practices emerge in diverse educational contexts.
This research challenges educators to reconceptualize their role from transmitters of knowledge to facilitators of cognitive co-creation. By fostering environments where students are active, accountable participants in constructing thinking, classrooms become powerful incubators for deeper engagement with content, critical reflection, and lifelong learning skills.
In essence, Min-Young Kim’s study published in Reading Research Quarterly represents a paradigm-shifting contribution to educational research, rendering visible the invisible social processes through which classrooms co-author their intellectual lives. This insight compels a reimagining of pedagogy that appreciates the rich, embodied, and interactive ways in which knowledge and thinking co-evolve in real time within learning communities.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Unpacking the Social Construction of Thinking Practices in the Secondary English Classroom: A Languaging Perspective
News Publication Date: April 8, 2025
Web References: 10.1002/rrq.70008
References: Kim, M.-Y. (2025). Unpacking the Social Construction of Thinking Practices in the Secondary English Classroom: A Languaging Perspective. Reading Research Quarterly.
Keywords: Education, Education policy, Educational assessment, Educational attainment, Educational levels, Educational methods, Hands on learning, Teaching, Students
