Blurring the boundaries: Opening and sustaining dialogic spaces

ABSTRACT

Dialogic educators have designed strategies to facilitate dialogic teaching, such as establishing ground rules, employing talk moves, and structuring discussions. Though productive, such strategies rarely open dialogic space, in which shared meaning is created through an interaction that blurs the boundaries between participating voices. Dialogic space is facilitated by tension between perspectives; openness to others, which is facilitated by ego suspension, authority relaxation and respect for and interest in others; and acceptance of dialogue’s inherent unpredictability. We explore classroom episodes in which dialogic space did and did not emerge, highlighting the importance of playfulness and mutual attunement for maneuvering within dialogic space. These cases also point to 4 challenges that dialogic space poses: tension between curricular coverage and dialogue’s unpredictability; the demands such unpredictability makes on teacher flexibility, knowledge and judgment; equity in the distribution of teacher attention and student participation; and the threat of losing control.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional resources

1. Alexander, R. (2020). A dialogic teaching companion. Routledge.

Robin Alexander, 1 of the seminal thinkers and practitioners of dialogic teaching, has introduced the topic to decades of teachers, policy-makers and scholars. This volume, the definitive book for teachers on dialogic teaching, consolidates his and others’ research and experience. Alexander lays out the case for dialogic teaching, research on its benefits, what it looks and sounds like in practice, how it is shaped by policy and cultural contexts, and how it can and should be cultivated. The book includes cutting-edge research, numerous practical examples, insightful analysis, and considerable wisdom.

2. Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C.S.C, & Clarke, S. N. (2018). Accountable talk: Instructional dialogue that builds the mind. Educational Practices Series, 29, 14–34.

This booklet was written for practitioners aiming to integrate more accountable talk in their classrooms. Accountable talk is a term that both captures the aim and the means of engaging students with active and critical learning, but it also clearly distinguishes it from recitation style learning, more commonly found in the classroom. In short, speakers must be held accountable both to their peers (i.e., other students in the classroom), to the body of knowledge (i.e., existing theories, facts) and to the pursuit of reason (i.e., use of logic and facts to support claims). The booklet summarizes 1 of the leading and holistic theoretical frameworks of dialogic teaching.

3. Asterhan, C. S. C., Howe, C., Lefstein, A., Matusov, E. & Reznitskaya, A. (2020). Controversies and consensus in research on dialogic teaching and learning. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 8, 1–16.

This paper is a written account of a thought-provoking panel held on dialogic pedagogy in which some central thinkers in the field commented on 4 crucial and provocative questions: the variation and overlap of the different definitions of dialogic pedagogy; shortcomings of systematic measurement methods designed to capture the quality of talk; equity in dialogic pedagogy—who gets to speak, how and what types of talk are legitimized (e.g., standard vs. nonstandard language, logical vs. emotional thinking); and the stubborn challenges of large-scale implementation efforts. The diverse answers of these scholars give an in-depth look into the less discussed issues of dialogic pedagogy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation [3962/1].