ERIC Number: EJ1487786
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-4277
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1952
Available Date: 2024-06-05
Actor-Network Theory as a New Direction in Research on Educational Dialogues
Baruch B. Schwarz1; Udi Tsemach1; Mirit Israeli1; Erez Nir1
Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences, v53 n2 p173-201 2025
We compare the scheme for educational dialogue analysis (SEDA) to the actor-network theory (ANT) for the analysis of educational dialogues. We show that ANT unearths the socio-material structure of classroom talk as networks in which human and non-human actors (texts, diagrams, instructions, etc.) exert power on each other. The application of ANT to classroom talk led us to identify (non-)dialogic networks when human actors are not subordinated (resp. subordinated) to other actors. Roles in networks are not predetermined but translated in interactions, and networks are often blackboxed, as the original process and circumstances of their creation might be ignored. We show then that the adoption of ANT (resp. SEDA) uncovers phenomena that SEDA (resp. ANT) did not identify. SEDA helps observe the co-construction of ideas and describe shifts from the dialogic to the non-dialogic but does not explain the mechanisms that lead to these shifts. ANT explains shifts from one network to another, as it conveys the change of power relations between the different actors, role of non-human actors, and shows how they shape the dynamics of networks in classroom talk. We draw from this comparison implications both for research and educational practice in dialogic education.
Descriptors: Dialogs (Language), Classroom Communication, Educational Research, Research Methodology, Social Theories, Power Structure, Network Analysis
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

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