Classroom Dialogue: Theory and Practice

About

From the Socratic method to Vygotsky’s notion of social learning, education is grounded in the practice of dialogue, not least because we engage in it with our students on a daily basis. These educational theories acknowledge that learning happens via social interaction, with teachers performing critical roles through the modeling of dialogue in the classroom or by creating positive feedback loops between the classroom and the world outside. Yet, a wider emphasis on the agency of teachers and their role in facilitating dialogue in the classroom is often brushed over, even where the relationship between education and dialogue is celebrated. Besides the relevance of dialogue for learning and education, the polarization of civil society has put teachers on the front line of debates about contentious issues and has made facilitating dialogue in the classroom a sine qua non for preparing students both for discussion in the classroom, as well as the changing labor market. 

This one-week course connects theories of dialogue to micro-practices in the classroom and teaching processes, along with the opportunity to develop new dialogue-based activities and materials for their courses. Participants will explore case studies on dialogue in the fields of philosophy, literature, technology, and education. By the end of the course, participants will have been exposed to and have experimented with a variety of educational methods that build on dialogue with the goal of creating and sharing learning materials for their disciplines.

Financial aid is available, in limited numbers.

Course leader

Tamara Kamatovic & Kaitlin Lucas (Yehuda Elkana Center, Central European University, Vienna, Austria)

Target group

This course is open to higher education teachers of all disciplinary backgrounds, doctoral students, teaching assistants, and faculty developers. 

Fee info