COLLABORATION, DIALOGUE AND METACOGNITION: THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM AS A "COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE" Merrilyn Goos, Peter Galbraith & Peter Renshaw Graduate School of Education The University of Queensland This paper presents a theoretical framework for guiding future research whose purpose is to understand how knowledge is constructed and transacted in collaborative and individual activity involving teachers and students. A synthesis of sociocultural and social constructivist theories has contributed to the formulation of our central metaphor of the classroom as a "community of practice". In creating such classrooms, three inter-related contexts need to be considered: teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction and individual reflection. These contexts are examined in terms of three phenomena of interest: collaboration, mathematical dialogue and metacognitive activity. Recently published Australian mathematics syllabi and curriculum frameworks emphasise that doing mathematics is a situated human activity, and that students learn to think mathematically by constructing, sharing, and critiquing ideas with others. The National Statement on Mathematics for Australian Schools (Australian Education Council, 1991), for example, includes among its goals that students should learn to communicate mathematically, develop their capacity to use mathematics in solving unfamiliar problems individually and collaboratively, and experience the processes through which mathematics develops. Additionally, the Strands of Mathematical Inquiry and Choosing and Using Mathematics recommend that students develop managerial procedures (that is, metacognitive skills) for making plans, checking progress, and evaluating different strategies for tackling a problem. In Queensland, general objectives within the new Senior Mathematics syllabi (Board of Senior Secondary School Studies, 1992) address communication, applying mathematics in life related situations, and developing logical arguments and justifying conclusions. However, it remains a challenge for researchers and teachers to translate these goals into effective teaching-learning practices. The approach described here outlines a theoretical framework for understanding and promoting collaborative problem solving, dialogue and metacognitive activity in mathematics classrooms. We provide a working synthesis of sociocultural and social constructivist theories in formulating our central metaphor-the classroom as a community of practice.