'Is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?' Enriching classrooms with a culture of reasoning

Reasoning is one of the proficiency strands highlighted in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. This is because it is the heart of mathematical work. However, because the content strands receive the bulk of the explicit description in the document, it can be difficult to know how to ensure that reasoning plays a key role in the classroom. This paper presents strategies to enhance the nature and extent of reasoning activity taking place in classrooms, and discusses how to build a culture of justification, use questioning techniques to encourage reasoning, and develop tasks that require higher order thinking.