The author provides an example of the theory and practice of dialogic learning. By mixing educational and social theory with literature, life narratives, and personal accounts, he creatively narrates the practice of dialogic learning in a seemingly utopian reality: a literary circle in which low-literacy adults enjoy reading books by authors like Kafka, Dostoyevsky and Garcia Lorca. the book highlights both theory and practice; it is both expository and narrative; and it refers as much to educational and social science works as to classical literature.

The author came to the decision to embark on this journey into dialogic pedagogy when he firmly realised that education is essentially dialogic. It is not that pedagogy should be dialogic -- he rather argues that it is always dialogic. This is true whether the participants in it, or outside observers of it, realise it or not -- and even when the participants are resistant to dialogue. This statement is in contrast with views that promote dialogic interaction in the classroom as a form of instruction. This conceptualisation contrasts with views that dialogic interaction or conversational instruction are more effective instructional means in comparison to, let's say, a more monologic genre of instruction such as a lecture or a demonstration. This statement is also in contrast with views that assume dialogue is a pedagogical instrument that can be turned on and off. He argues that whatever teachers and students do (or not do) whether in their classrooms or beyond it, they are locked in dialogic relations.

Dialogue has long been used in primary classrooms to stimulate thinking, but it is not always easy to unite the creative thinking of good dialogue with the need for children to understand the core concepts behind knowledge-rich subjects. A sound understanding of key concepts is essential to progress through the national curriculum, and assessment of this understanding along with effective feedback is central to good practice. Dialogic Education builds upon decades of practical classroom research to offer a method of teaching that applies the power of dialogue to achieving conceptual mastery. Easy-to-follow template lesson plans and activity ideas are provided, each of which has been tried and tested in classrooms and is known to succeed. Providing a structure for engaging children and creating an environment in which dialogue can flourish, this book is separated into three parts: Establishing a classroom culture of learning; Core concepts across the curriculum; Wider dialogues: Educational adventures in the conversation of mankind. Written to support all those in the field of primary education, this book will be an essential resource for student, trainee and qualified primary teachers interested in the educational importance of dialogue.

This book examines social changes affecting education; amplifies case studies of school change; and analyzes the gap between the rhetoric and reality of educational reform.

This volume informs the growing number of educational policy scholars on the use of critical theoretical frameworks in their analyses. It offers insights on which theories are appropriate within the area of critical educational policy research and how theory and method interact and are applied in critical policy analyses. Highlighting how different critical theoretical frameworks are used in educational policy research to reshape and redefine the way scholars approach the field, the volume offers work by emerging and senior scholars in the field of educational policy who apply critical frameworks to their research. The chapters examine a wide range of current educational policy topics through different critical theoretical lenses, including critical race theory, critical discourse analysis, postmodernism, feminist poststructuralism, critical theories related to LGBTQ issues, and advocacy approaches.

This book provides a wide-ranging and in-depth theoretical perspective on dialogue in teaching. It explores the philosophy of dialogism and explains its importance in teaching and learning. The authors present the core concepts of dialogism as a social theory of language and consider the implications of these ideas for pedagogy.