The aim of consensus is essential to deliberative democracy. However, this aim has also been frequently criticized. In this article, I present two different forms of criticism against consensus in democratic education. The first, articulated by scholars of education for democracy, claims that the aim of consensus fails to account for the…

This article focuses on one common type of many different classroom discussions, open-strategy sharing (OSS), because it offers a starting point for teachers new to mathematical discussions. The goal of an OSS discussion is to explore multiple possible ways to solve a single mathematical task. Students share strategies, listen to others'…

Within the context of schooling, conceptions of literacy are increasingly being associated with the capacity for learners to engage in disciplinary meaning making through face-to-face deliberation and dialogue. In this commentary, the author explores how a conversational infrastructure--meaning routines for talk, norms, scaffolds, and a repertoire…

Interest in reflective practices, within the broader framework of teachers' professional knowledge, has been ongoing in educational research for the past few decades. The idea from which reflection itself stems is that of teachers' agency in their own professional development. The initial positivist approach viewed the relationships between…

This study explores how academics create safe spaces in university classrooms to engage in dialogue about education protest actions in South Africa. Utilising the research methodology of narrative inquiry and the theoretical framework of Pedagogy of Compassion, this paper explores how academics reflect on their responses to change and protest…

Drawing on Robin Alexander's theory and method of 'Dialogic Teaching', this paper engages with debates about the need to reconceptualise the teaching of sexuality education. By exploring the complexities of educating about sex and sexuality it calls for attention to be paid to the how patterns of talk may function to open up spaces for more robust…

In this paper we examine two systematic observation methods intended to be used by pre-service and in-service teachers to help increase their awareness of children's participation in productive classroom dialogue. We identify the affordances of these methods for supporting teachers' reflective practice, focusing in this case on students' equitable…

Prior research across disciplines has established the value of dialogic, whole-class discussions. Previous studies have often defined discussions in opposition to the notorious triadic pattern called recitation, or IRE/F, focusing on variations to the teacher's initiating question or evaluative follow-up on students' responses. Recent scholarship…

Research has documented that mathematics teachers rarely use communicative activities; activities that allow for the sharing of ideas and clarification of understandings (NCTM, 2000). Teacher metacognitive awareness provides a possible framework for understanding the difficulties secondary mathematics teachers face when attempting to incorporate…

A new methodology is proposed for qualitative discourse analysis (QDA) aimed at gaining enhanced insights into learning possibilities and indicators that arise during classroom group discussions. The constitution of this new methodology has two principle components: a discourse analysis approach that aims to identify the relationships between…

Racial tensions have been part of the landscape on college campuses since before the Civil Rights Movement. Not only was racism experienced on college campuses, but spaces were not created for conversations about these tensions. Dialogue in the classroom is needed, especially with the increasing diversity of college students. Dialogue skills are…

This qualitative case study investigated how an early childhood teacher and young children in a public White-predominant kindergarten classroom engaged in critical discussions of anti-bias issues including racism, White privilege, gender stereotypes, gender nonconformity, sexism, and homophobia. Through the use of interactive read-alouds using…

Situated within Sociocultural theory (SCT), this article analyzed an existing data set (Toth, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c, available at https://www.iris-database.org) to investigate learners' development through participation in a dialogic approach to grammar instruction called PACE. The target of instruction was the Spanish pronominal clitic…

This case study examines the second language socialization of migrant-background (MB) students (n = 8) enrolled in a Greater Montréal public primary school, where the language of instruction is French. This examination includes MB students' experiences learning French and learning through French, and the impact of their knowledge of other…

The purpose of this research was to reveal in-class communication practices used in the courses in the teacher preparation programs of the USA depending on classroom observations. Qualitative research method was used in the research. The researcher collected the data through direct participatory and unstructured observation. The researcher made…