Dialogic teaching- harnessing the power of talk Derval Carey-Jenkins- May DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

What is dialogic teaching? Take a few moments to jot some key words /themes/concepts relating to what you understand dialogic teaching to be – talk with your colleagues on your table and be prepared to shared your findings. Where are you on the continuum- DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Dialogic teaching is not just … “speaking and listening “ “communication skills” “a single set method of teaching” “question and answer” “listen and tell” DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Words as tools for thinking ‘Real concepts are impossible without words, and thinking in concepts does not exist beyond verbal thinking. That is why the central moment in concept formation …is a specific use of words as functional tools.’ Vygotsky (1978) DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

It is a teaching methodology, a professional outlook, one that empowers the student for lifelong learning and active citizenship It enables teachers to precisely diagnose learning needs, frame learning tasks and assess learners’ progress It is a comprehensive approach to talk in teaching and learning across the whole curriculum It is grounded in evidence and principles It draws on a broad repertoire of strategies and techniques Alexander (2008) DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

MOST IMPORTANTLY … It is grounded in research on the relationship between language, learning thinking and understanding, and in observational evidence on what makes for truly effective teaching. DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

The Effective Provision of Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16)project Year 5 teachers in excellent schools (defined as those which are academically effective with good quality pedagogy): There is a ‘bundle’ of behaviours that, taken together, can make a difference to children’s development and progress and therefore their later life chances… Use dialogic teaching and learning. Children work collaboratively, take part instructional conversations in Literacy, have opportunities to receive evaluative feedback and spend more time learning and performing analysis. In Maths, these teachers use analysis and maths discourse, share maths ‘authority’2 with the children and their pupils have greater depth of knowledge and understanding Siraj-Blatchford et al (2011) DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Principles of dialogic teaching embedded in the curriculum – some examples English Maths Computing DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Who is Robin Alexander ? He is a Cambridge Professor of Education. He is one of the most respected academics in the field of Education both here and across the world. He pioneered dialogic teaching. He led the seminal Cambridge Primary Review(2009). He is a teacher. DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Key underpinning principles * collective: teachers and children address learning tasks together, as a group or as a class; * reciprocal: teachers and children listen to each other, share ideas and consider alternative viewpoints; * supportive: children articulate their ideas freely, without fear of embarrassment over "wrong" answers; and they help each other to reach common understandings; * cumulative: teachers and children build on their own and each other's ideas and chain them into coherent lines of thinking and enquiry; * purposeful: teachers plan and steer classroom talk with specific educational goals. DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Key requirements interactions which encourage students to think, and to think in different ways questions which invite much more than simple recall answers which are justified, followed up and built upon rather than merely received feedback which informs and leads thinking forward as well as encourages contributions which are extended rather than fragmented exchanges which chain together into coherent and deepening lines of enquiry discussion and argumentation which probe and challenge rather than unquestioningly accept professional engagement with subject matter which liberates classroom discourse from the safe and conventional classroom organisation, climate and relationships which make all this possible. DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Dialogic teaching and teacher training For our trainees to fully respond to the demands of 21 st Century learning and teaching they need “versions of pedagogy (teaching and learning) which aim at strengthening pupils’ capabilities for learning” (Bereiter, 2002) She argues that many teachers lack… “the skills necessary for planning effective whole class dialogue, and as a result … the pedagogic potential of learning through dialogic teaching is minimised … DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014

Some useful texts … Mercer and Hodgkinson (2008) Mercer and Littleton (2007) DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014 Beauchamp (2012) Chapter 2 Alexander (2008)

References and further reading Alexander, R.J. (2008) Towards Dialogic Teaching: rethinking classroom talk (4th edition), Dialogos. Alexander, R.J. (2008) Essays on Pedagogy. London: Routledge. Bereiter, C. (2002) Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age. NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum). Mercer, N. and Hodgkinson, S. (2008) Exploring Talk in School. London: Sage. Mercer, N. & Littleton, K. (2007). Dialogue and the development of children’s thinking. London:Routledge. Mercer, N. (2000) Words and Minds: How we use language to think together. London: Routledge. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) in: Cole, M. V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner & Souberman, (Eds) Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press DC-J. Dialogic Teaching May 2014