Dialogic teaching: The power of classroom talk to increase student engagement

Written by: Graham Chisnell

GRAHAM CHISNELL FCCT, EDUCATION CONSULTANT AND AUTHOR, UK

Classroom talk that engages students in dialogue to stimulate and extend thinking, knowing and understanding can have a powerful and positive impact on student learning (Alexander, 2020). In this reflective piece, I examine how embedding a culture of dialogic teaching in school impacts on teacher engagement and student learning.

The challenge

As a CEO of a multi-academy trust, I was asked to sponsor a primary school that faced a range of challenges. The school had been placed in special measures by Ofsted and had also seen an influx of disadvantaged families, including many refugee students new to the country that were housed in local hotels. Teachers were dedicated and compassionate in support of their students; nonetheless, student engagement in class remained low.

School leaders were keen to use research-informed practice to best support the students. Research by the Education Endowment Foundation asserts that dialogic teaching has a positive impact on the learning of students in English, science and maths, equivalent to two months’ additional progress (EEF, 2017). The school leadership team therefore elected to introduce dialogic teaching as an approach to address the level of engagement across the school in order to accelerate student progress.

Dialogic teaching

Dialogic teaching utilises the power of classroom talk to challenge and stretch students’ thinking and aid their cognitive, social and linguistic development (Alexander, 2017). In the UK, however, dialogue as a tool for student engagement is not as prevalent as it is in other European countries (Egan-Smith, 2018).

Dialogic teaching involves the following five principles:

  • Collective: The teacher and student address learning activities together rather than in isolation, helping the dialogue to become a human, shared experience
  • Reciprocal: Students and teachers listen carefully to one another and respond by sharing their own ideas, viewpoints and challenges
  • Supportive: Contributions are valued and respected by all participants, with the goal being collective understanding
  • Cumulative: Talk is ongoing and builds on prior knowledge and understanding, encouraging shared problem-solving between teacher and student
  • Purposeful: The teacher clearly defines learning goals to ensure that the dialogic talk is well planned, implemented and skilfully facilitated, with due regard to time, space, organisation and relationships.

These principles are underpinned by effective questioning, assessment and feedback techniques (Egan-Smith, 2018).

Teacher development

To embed dialogic teaching within the culture of the school, the leadership team gave each teacher a copy of Alexander’s book A Dialogic Teaching Companion (Alexander 2020). Using a peer coaching model, they set about a 12-month training programme to ensure that teachers understood the theoretical principles of dialogic teaching and had the space to rehearse and refine their practice with one another. Training sessions were led by members of the teaching team, who delivered on different chapters in Alexander’s book. This built the professional status of staff, using the school’s ‘talent pathways’ (Chisnell, 2021a). Sessions modelled dialogic talk with teachers and followed up with peer coaching, providing time to engage in shared dialogic teaching and peer coaching sessions to reflect on and refine practice.

As the culture of dialogic teaching became embedded, teachers refined their approach to questioning in class. Questioning moved from a teacher-to-child monodirectional response into a multidirectional approach, where students became active participants in the questioning process. In this approach, the teacher or student poses a question and, through modelling, students learn to respond to the questions and become a partner in the discussions, rather than simply a participant. As a result of this cultural change, a democratic community of enquiry develops (Alexander, 2017). Students were introduced to a classroom culture where they were encouraged to agree, disagree, challenge, question, appeal to reason and self-correct (Alexander, 2020). Through dialogic talk, the teacher was also able to introduce and explore key vocabulary in lessons, supporting disadvantaged pupils to gain an understanding of the subject-specific vocabulary being taught (Sedova and Salamounova, 2014).

In developing dialogic teaching, teachers became increasingly aware of the need to give space for students to think and respond to one another’s ideas. They learned that all students need to actively engage in dialogic talk in lessons, rather than the select few. This led to teachers knowing more about students’ learning and being able to use this knowledge to craft further questions to affirm and deepen student understanding.

Student learning

As the cultural change towards embedding dialogic teaching was developed, a climate of inclusive and engaging classrooms evolved. Students who were previously reluctant to speak developed the confidence to engage purposefully in class talk. They recognised that every voice was valued and that there was an expectation that each student had a contribution to make. The relationships of students developed as they learned to be increasingly respectful of any opposing views or ideas presented by their peers.

The key motivation to introduce a dialogic teaching approach in the school was to enhance the engagement of students in class. As dialogic teaching became embedded in practice, student engagement increased. Class discussions became vibrant and increasingly inclusive. Students who were previously timid in presenting their thoughts and ideas grew in confidence. Outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics also improved for the key groups being targeted. While improvements made in student engagement and outcomes cannot be exclusively attributed to the introduction of dialogic teaching, its introduction was a significant contributory factor in embedding a climate of high student engagement across the curriculum.

Conclusion

Dialogic teaching offers a framework in which teachers can encourage students to engage in purposeful classroom talk. While it does not provide a panacea for achieving improved outcomes for students, it does have the potential to develop a climate in school where teachers and students act as co-creators in their learning and students feel empowered and engaged in class. From lessons learned about introducing a culture of dialogic teaching, here are some key steps in the process:

Train

  • Share the theoretical basis to dialogic teaching and help staff to understand the key principles and practice that underpin this approach
  • Construct and deliver a training programme to support teachers and support staff to move from theory to practice, using this as an opportunity to develop the talents of staff.

Coach

  • Provide time to enact and refine what is learned in staff training sessions using a peer coaching model
  • Build in designated time for peer coaching to strengthen practice and learn from colleagues.

Review

  • Encourage staff to engage in research practice to reflect on the impact of dialogic teaching on targeted student groups (Chisnell, 2021b)
  • Learn from your mistakes and share your research findings to embed practice that works.

References