Education as Dialogue

Robin AlexanderUniversity of Cambridge

Contact: rja40@cam.ac.ukDownload text at: www.robinalexander.org.uk

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue in the classroom• The dialogue about education: curriculum• Conclusion

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue in the classroom• The dialogue about education: curriculum• Conclusion

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• By the year 2000, the United States will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.

• By the year 2000, every adult American will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a world economy.

(From Goals 2000: Educate America Act 1994)

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Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) First cycle (43 countries)

Assessing the preparedness of 15-year old students for adult life

Reading literacy Scientific literacy Mathematical literacy

Finland Korea Hong Kong

Canada Japan Japan

New Zealand Hong Kong Korea

Australia Finland New Zealand

Ireland UK Finland

Hong Kong Canada Australia

Korea New Zealand Canada

UK Australia Switzerland

Japan Austria UK

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United NationsMillennium Development Goals (MDGs)

for 2015

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger2. Achieve universal primary education3. Promote gender equality and empower women4. Reduce child mortality5. Improve maternal health6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases7. Ensure environmental sustainability8. Develop a global partnership for sustainable

development.

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue, learning and teaching• The dialogue about education: curriculum• Conclusion

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The destruction of the past, or rather of the social mechanisms that link one’s contemporary experience to that of earlier generations, is one of the most characteristic and eerie phenomena of the late twentieth century. Most young men and women [now] grow up in a sort of permanent present, lacking any organic relation to the public past of the times they live in.

Eric Hobsbawm: Age of Extremes, 1995

There is neither a first nor a last word. The contexts of dialogue are without limit. They extend into the deepest past and the most distant future.

Mikhail Bakhtin: Estetika, 1979

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue, learning and teaching• The dialogue about education: curriculum

• Conclusion

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Teaching talk

• Rote

• Recitation

• Exposition / instruction

• Discussion

• Dialogue

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Dialogic teaching repertoires

Repertoire 1:Learning Talk

• Narrate• Explain• Question• Answer• Analyse• Speculate• Imagine• Explore• Evaluate• Discuss• Argue• Justify

• Listen• Be receptive• Think• Give others time to think

Repertoire 2:Teaching Talk

• Rote• Recitation• Exposition / instruction• Discussion• Dialogue

Repertoire 3:Interactive Strategy

• Whole class• Teacher-led group work • Pupil-led group work• Pupil pairs• Teacher-pupil one-to-one

What ultimately counts is the extent to which instruction requires students to think, not just to report someone else’s thinking.

(Martin Nystrand et al, Opening Dialogue, 1997)

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Dialogic teaching:principles

Dialogic teaching is:• collective• reciprocal• supportive• cumulative• purposeful

If an answer does not give rise to a new question from itself, it falls out of the dialogue.

(Mikhail Bakhtin: Speech Genres and Other Late Essays, 1986)

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue in the classroom• The dialogue about education: curriculum• Conclusion

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The dialogic curriculum:starting points

• Realms of knowledge / ways of knowing• Generic skills• Forms of intelligence• Ways of learning• Hybrids

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Curriculum as realms of knowledge/ways of knowing

Curriculum as subjects (National Curriculum for Englishsecondary schools, from 1999)

• English• Mathematics• Science• Design and technology• Information and communications technology• History• Geography• Modern foreign languages• Art and design• Music• Physical education• Citizenship

Curriculum as areas of learning & experience(HMI, 1985)• Aesthetic and creative• Human and social• Linguistic and literary• Mathematical• Moral• Physical• Scientific• Spiritual• Technological

Curriculum as areas of learning & development(3-5 Foundation Stage curriculum, from 2000)

• personal, social and emotional development• communication, language and literacy• mathematical development• knowledge and understanding of the world• physical development• creative development

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So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

(William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, from Sonnet 18)

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Curriculum as realms of knowledge/ways of knowing

Curriculum as subjects (National Curriculum for Englishsecondary schools, from 1999)

• English• Mathematics• Science• Design and technology• Information and communications technology• History• Geography• Modern foreign languages• Art and design• Music• Physical education• Citizenship

Curriculum as areas of learning & experience(HMI, 1985)• Aesthetic and creative• Human and social• Linguistic and literary• Mathematical• Moral• Physical• Scientific• Spiritual• Technological

Curriculum as areas of learning & development(3-5 Foundation Stage curriculum, from 2000)

• personal, social and emotional development• communication, language and literacy• mathematical development• knowledge and understanding of the world• physical development• creative development

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Curriculum as skills

Competences for life (RSA 1999)

• learning• citizenship• relating to people• managing situations• managing information

Skills for employment (DfES 2000)

• vocational• job-specific• generic

Generic skills (Hargreaves 2004)

• managing one’s own learning• problem-solving• thinking• research, enquiry and

investigation• invention, enterprise and

entrepreneurship• communication• social and interpersonal skills• teamwork• leadership

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Curriculum as forms of intelligence

Multiple Intelligences (Gardner)

• linguistic• logico-mathematical• spatial• musical• bodily-kinaesthetic• interpersonal • intrapersonal • naturalist • existential

Triarchic Intelligence(Sternberg)

• analytical• creative• practical

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Curriculum as ways of learning

• Children as imitators: learning from modelling

• Children as recipients: learning from didactic exposure

• Children as thinkers: learning by intersubjective exchange and collaboration

• Children as knowledgeable: learning by exploring the relationship between personal and objective knowledge

(Jerome Bruner, 1996)

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Hybrid curricula

• Disciplinary knowledge• Cross-curricular domains and

competences(France)

• Subjects• Cross-curricular issues• Teaching/learning styles

(Wragg’s ‘cubic curriculum’)

• National Curriculum subjects• Cross-curricular key skills

(England)

• Areas of learning and experience

• Elements of learning

(England, not introduced)

• Key learning areas (KLAs)• Generic skills• Values and attitudes• Key tasks• Essential learning experiences• Learning goals

(Hong Kong)

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Education as dialogue

• Introduction: why dialogue?• The dialogue about education: futures• The nature of dialogue• Dialogue in the classroom• The dialogue about education: curriculum• Conclusion

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• Realms of knowledge / ways of knowing• Generic skills• Forms of intelligence• Ways of learning• Hybrids

The dialogic curriculum:starting points

Education as Dialogue

Robin AlexanderUniversity of Cambridge

Contact: rja40@cam.ac.ukDownload text at: www.robinalexander.org.uk