Navigating Productive Domains of Dialogic Work

Abstract

Dialogic teaching has been recognized as a positive and productive approach to classroom instruction, but broader uptake of dialogic practices has proven to be a challenging goal. After establishing the grounds for a dialogic approach and the theoretical grounding for the work that follows, this thesis develops a teacher-facing guide intended to aid in self-reflection, information gathering, and next-step actions within five proposed domains on which dialogic work in the classroom rests. Each domain is presented as an area in which productive work and personal inquiry can be done: (1) Teachers and (2) students may examine their own stances, skills, and knowledge. Teachers can also examine the health of the (3) classroom community as a whole, the design of their (4) curricular goals and specific questions for discussion, and (5) the structural support or resistance to dialogic work within their school site. The guide includes numerous frameworks, questionnaires, surveys, and other tools from a variety of established sources in order to help guide teachers’ work.