Moving towards interactive and dialogic approaches to classroom discourse

Abstract

Six science secondary school teachers at a boys’ Church school in Malta collaborated to move towards a more interactive-dialogic (I-D) approach to classroom discourse. Their experiences were explored through their (1) communicative approach, (2) thoughts on teaching, learning and the communicative approach, (3) perceptions of benefits and challenges of the I-D approach, and (4) involvement in the project. The data generation techniques used include nine teacher meetings, one focus-group interview, eighteen individual interviews, fifty-four audio-recorded lessons and twelve classroom observations. The teachers recognised how the I-D approach facilitates teaching, learning and the social construction of knowledge. It fosters a sense of joy to learn and expands pedagogical content knowledge. The I-D approach was used in a few learning episodes while embryonic forms of the I-D approach featured in others. Nevertheless, the interactive-authoritative approach was used more frequently. Challenges the teachers encountered included their need for control. They felt entrapped in the interactive-authoritative and non-interactive-authoritative approach when time was limited. Sometimes they felt safer ‘covering’ the science ideas than dealing with their students’ thoughts. During meetings, the teachers reflected on their practice, shared their views, challenged each other, empathised with each other and gave advice. They worked on different elements of classroom practice including questioning, wait-time and feedback. They recognised talk as a learning tool and became aware of their responsibility to vary the communicative approach to cater for different needs. Moving towards an I-D approach presumably takes years but collaborating in a community could well support this change.