ROBIN ALEXANDER

Dialogic teaching

Dialogic teaching is an approach to teaching which in a highly disciplined fashion harnesses the power of talk to stimulate and extend pupils’ thinking and advance their learning and understanding. It is as distinct from the question-answer and listen-tell routines of traditional and so-called ‘interactive’ teaching as it is from the casual conversation of informal discussion. Nor should it be confused with the official use in England of the term ‘Speaking and Listening’, since this attends only to the pupil’s talk and is viewed as an aspect of English teaching, whereas dialogic teaching is as much about the teacher as the learner, and relates to teaching across the curriculum. Grounded in the principles of collectivity, reciprocity, support, cumulation and purposefulness, dialogic teaching draws on recent psychological and neuroscientific research on children’s development and cognition as well as on a long tradition of observational and process-product research on teaching. The approach links with the work of Bakhtin, Bruner, Cazden, Barnes, Mercer, Nystrand, Wells and Wood and with new developments in cultural psychology and activity theory. Dialogic teaching has been intensively trialled in London, Yorkshire and other parts of Britain, and is now incorporated into professional support material from QCA and the UK Government’s Primary and Key Stage 3 strategies.

Dialogic teaching: a bibliography

1. Earlier analysis of classroom interaction in British classrooms, with numerous transcript extracts:

Alexander, R.J. (1995) Versions of Primary Education, Routledge, chapters 4 and 5, pp 103-269. [further details]

2. From comparative analysis of pedagogy and classroom interaction in five countries (including lengthy transcript extracts) to the foundations of dialogic teaching:

Alexander, R.J. (2001) Culture and Pedagogy, Blackwell, chapters 15 and 16, pp 391-528 [further details]

3. Dialogic teaching - the main text:

Alexander, R.J. (2008) Towards Dialogic Teaching: rethinking classroom talk (4th edition), Dialogos (link to Dialogos) (Note: this text has been reprinted many times and is now in its fourth full edition. Earlier editions are superseded.) [further details]

4. Related articles:

Alexander, R.J. (2003), ‘Talk in teaching and learning: international perspectives’, in QCA (ed) New Perspectives on Spoken English, QCA, pp 26-37.

Alexander, R.J. (2003) ‘Oracy, literacy and pedagogy: international perspectives’, in Bearne, E., Dombey, H., Grainger, T. (ed) Interactions in Language and Literacy in the Classroom, Open University Press, pp 23-35.

Alexander, R.J. (2005) ‘Talking to learn: oracy revisited’, in Conner, C. (ed) Teaching Texts, Nottingham: National College for School Leadership, pp 75-93.

Alexander, R.J. (2007) ‘Culture, dialogue and learning: notes on an emerging pedagogy’, in Mercer, N. and Hodgkinson, S. (ed) Exploring Talk in School, Sage. [download an earlier version of this, a keynote lecture at the 2005 IACEP International Conference, here]

5. Evaluation reports:

Alexander, R.J. (2003) Talk for Learning: the first year, Northallerton: North Yorkshire County Council. [further details]

Alexander, R.J. (2005) Teaching Through Dialogue: the first year, London: Barking and Dagenham Council.

Alexander, R.J. (2005) Talk for Learning: the second year, Northallerton: North Yorkshire County Council. [further details]

6. Multimedia materials

Alexander, R.J., with North Yorkshire County Council (2006) Talk for Learning: teaching and learning through dialogue (CD/DVD pack with 24 lesson extracts and accompanying texts. [further details]

7. Extending the idea of dialogue into curriculum planning for the future:

Alexander, R.J. (2006) Education as Dialogue: moral and pedagogical choices for a runaway world, Dialogos. [further details]

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