A Dialogic Approach: The power of talk in our classrooms

When we think of dialogue in the classroom, our mind immediately travels toward a recitation model of talk, (teacher initiates-student responds-teacher evaluates) where the teacher largely controls the dialogue taking place, by posing a question and students raise their hands to offer brief surface level responses.

Research by Littleton and Mercer, 2013 has demonstrated that the use of dialogue as a pedagogical tool develops reasoning, helps students to collectively and individually solve problems, and construct new ideas.

This is demonstrated in the classroom when students listen, share their ideas, add on to each other’s comments and use clarifying questions to make sure they are understanding what others are saying. When students participate in this form of dialogue, they are thinking and engaging more deeply and critically with the content and in turn building comprehension and critical thinking skills.

References:

Littleton, K. and Mercer, N. (2013). Interthinking: putting talk to work. Oxon: Routledge.

Alexander, R. (2008). Culture, Dialogue and Learning: Notes on an Emerging Pedagogy In N. Mercer and S. Hodgkinson (Eds.), Exploring Talk in School, (pp. 91-114). London: Sage Publications.