Thinking About Classroom Dialogue: Introduction and Theoretical Background
This chapter is an introduction to this book. First, we reveal our motivation for writing it—to contribute to understanding how teachers can improve classroom dialogue and thereby boost student learning. Second, we present the organization of the book and
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Thinking About Classroom Dialogue: Introduction and Theoretical Background
Abstract This chapter is an introduction to this book. First, we reveal our motivation for writing it—to contribute to understanding how teachers can improve classroom dialogue and thereby boost student learning. Second, we present the organization of the book and the content of individual chapters. Third, we define dialogic teaching. Fourth, we outline the essential concepts and theoretical inspirations that were the basis for this study.
1.1 What is in the Book This book is based on the assumptions that students learn through talk and that engaging students in classroom talk positively affects their learning outcomes. Not all forms of classroom talk are comparably effective. Students learn more in some kinds of classroom talk than in others (Resnick et al. 2015). One approach to classroom discourse that is seen as powerful is dialogic teaching (Alexander 2020). This is a style of teaching that harnesses talk to engage student interest, stimulate their thinking, advance their understanding, and at the same time empower them. This book is focused on dialogic teaching and the question of how to get it into the classroom. Existing research has consistently revealed that real classroom discourse in various countries is far from the ideal of dialogic teaching. Therefore, a number of intervention projects have taken place over recent decades aimed at making classroom discourse more dialogic. We are part of this research stream, and this book expands on the results of intervention research conducted in the Czech Republic. The book describes the efforts that the participating teachers, with the help of the researchers, invested in attempting to teach differently than they were used to and to instigate a rich and authentic dialogue with their students. Our results show that if teachers change their talk patterns, this is then followed by a desirable change in their students. But the results demonstrate that it is not easy for teachers to change their teaching and talking practices. The aim of this book is not only to report on a successful intervention, but most importantly to investigate in depth the teacher experiences and ways of learning © Masaryk University 2020 K. Šed’ová et al., Getting Dialogic Teaching into Classrooms, Understanding Teaching-Learning Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9243-0_1
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1 Thinking About Classroom Dialogue: Introduction …
during the intervention project. Teachers find it very difficult to change their own talk and interaction patterns. Therefore, we think it is necessary to examine thoroughly the process of teacher learning that is essential for such a transformation. Although there is an impressive body of scholarly literature in the field, we see this as an important research gap. The book is divided into eight chapters. In this chapter, we define dialogic teaching and introduce key underlying theories and concepts. We focus on sociocultural theory, which explains the relationship between talkin
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