Dialogic teacher inquiry: The case of a preservice teacher learning to facilitate class discussion

Main Article Content

Sergio L. Sanchez
Steven Z. Athanases

Abstract

Developing knowledge and practice for high-quality K-12 class discussion remains challenging, especially for new teachers juggling other classroom responsibilities. Our study reports the case of a preservice teacher learning to lead discussions while enrolled in a teacher education inquiry course, simultaneous with semester-long supervised practice teaching in a seventh-grade class (12-13-year-olds) in a high-poverty urban community. The work is guided by a complex teacher learning process for developing complex practice of facilitating discussions in culturally and linguistically diverse high school English classes. Countering popular approaches to “talk moves” as useful but often generic facilitation practices, the teacher education pedagogical innovation we describe positions teachers as knowledge-generating, agentive professionals. Our conceptual framework for teacher learning features dialogic teacher inquiry, with three domains. The first domain involves moving beyond methods texts to dialoguing analytically with and among multiple print, online, and mentor resources for supporting development of a dialogic teaching stance. The second domain intentionally guides new teachers to explore classroom data and consider students as knowledge resources in shaping instruction. The third domain sustains dialogue about discussion processes and evolving conceptions of dialogism in small groups of preservice teacher collectives, enabling sharing of inquiry data, emerging findings, and dilemmas of practice. Drawing upon a larger database, we present a case study demonstrating one preservice teacher’s inquiry work with deep analysis of student talk, detailed memoing processes featuring challenges and benefits of developing dialogic teaching practices, thoughtful criticism of long-established discussion practices, and discoveries about nuances of dialogic teaching. Our case contributes to the literature by presenting an example of dialogic pedagogy for teacher education, in service of preservice teachers learning to lead classroom discussions. Additional innovative pedagogical designs are needed to assist teachers in gaining complex knowledge and practice for teaching and promoting meaningful and learning-rich talk in K-12 classrooms.

Article Details

How to Cite
Sanchez, S. L., & Athanases, S. Z. (2023). Dialogic teacher inquiry: The case of a preservice teacher learning to facilitate class discussion. Dialogic Pedagogy: A Journal for Studies of Dialogic Education, 11(1), A1-A38. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2023.482
Section
Articles
Author Biographies

Sergio L. Sanchez, University of California, Davis, USA

Sergio L. Sanchez (Ph.D., University of California, Davis) is a Postdoctoral Scholar at UC Davis School of Education, working in the Teachers-as-Learners Project, funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation (Steven Z. Athanases, PI). Previously, Dr. Sanchez taught English as a second language (ESL) and classroom drama in his native Argentina and has recently taught undergraduate and teacher education courses for UC Davis School of Education. Dr. Sanchez draws upon his teaching experience for his research on early-career teacher learning to lead class discussions and integrate drama-based pedagogy in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. His research appears in Teaching and Teacher Education, English Journal, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, International Journal of Education & the Arts, Research in Drama Education, Journal of Literacy Research, and Arts Education Policy Review journals.

Steven Z. Athanases, University of California, Davis, USA

Steven Z. Athanases (Ph.D., Stanford University) is a Professor in the School of Education, University of California, Davis. Dr. Athanases is PI for a Teachers-as-Learners Project, funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, focused on preservice teachers learning to facilitate text-based discussions in culturally and linguistically diverse high school English classes. His work has documented multiple pedagogical innovations in teacher education, including partnering with diverse scholars and program graduates teaching in the region. His recent scholarship appeared in Teachers College Record, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, and Equity & Excellence in Education. Dr. Athanases also directed the Center for Shakespeare in Diverse Classrooms (2018-2021), partnering with Globe Education, Shakespeare’s Globe London, reporting new teachers’ classroom drama and inquiry work in Research in Drama Education, International Journal of Education and the Arts, and Arts Education Policy Review.

References

Adler, M., Rougle, E., Kaiser, E., & Caughlan, S. (2003/4). Closing the gap between concept and practice: Toward more dialogic discussion in the language arts classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(4), 312-322.

Alexander, R. (2019). Whose discourse? Dialogic Pedagogy for a post-truth world. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 7, E1-E19.

Alston, C. L., Danielson, K. A., Dutro, E., & Cartun, A. (2018). Does a discussion by any other name sound the same? Teaching discussion in three ELA methods courses. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(3), 225-238.

Anderson, L., & Stillman, J. (2010). Opportunities to teach and learn in high-needs schools: Student teachers’ experiences in urban placements. Urban Education, 45(2), 109-141.

Anthony, G., Hunter, J., & Hunter, R. (2015). Prospective teachers development of adaptive expertise. Teaching and Teacher Education, 49, 108-111.

Applebee, A. N., Langer, J., Nystrand, M., & Gamoran, A. (2003). Discussion-based approaches to developing understanding: Classroom instruction and student performance in middle and high school English. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 685-730.

Artiles, A. J. (1998). The dilemma of difference: Enriching the disproportionality discourse with theory and context. The Journal of Special Education, 32(1), 32-36.

Asterhan, C. S. C., Howe, C., Lefstein, A., Matusov, E., & Reznitskaya, A. (2020). Controversies and consensus in research on dialogic teaching and learning. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 8, S1-S16.

Athanases, S. Z. (2011). Research as praxis: Documenting the dialectical relationship between theory and practice. In D. Lapp & D. Fisher (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (3rd ed., pp. 358–363). [Sponsored by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English]. Routledge.

Athanases, S. Z. (2014). Mentoring and mediating the interface of multiple knowledges in learning to teach challenging content. In C. J. Craig & L. Orland-Barak (Eds.), Advances in Research on Teaching (Vol. 22, pp. 403–426). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720140000022022

Athanases, S. Z. (2021). Locked in sequence and stuck on skills in a college-for-all culture for urban Latinx youth. Urban Education, 56(8), 1328–1359. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918806944

Athanases, S. Z., & de Oliveira, L. C. (2014). Scaffolding versus routine support for Latina/o youth in an urban school: Tensions in building toward disciplinary literacy. Journal of Literacy Research, 46(2), 263–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X14535328

Athanases, S. Z., & Martin, K. J. (2006). Learning to advocate for educational equity in a teacher credential program. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(6), 627–646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.03.008

Athanases, S. Z., Banes, L. C., Wong, J. W., & Martinez, D. C. (2018). Exploring linguistic diversity from the inside out: Implications of self-reflexive inquiry for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(5), 581-596. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022487118778838

Athanases, S. Z., Sanchez, S. L., & Martin, L. M. (2020). Saturate, situate, synthesize: Fostering preservice teachers’ conceptual and practical knowledge for learning to lead class discussion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 88, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102970

Athanases, S. Z., Wahleithner, J. M., & Bennett, L. H. (2012). Learning to attend to culturally and linguistically diverse learners through teacher inquiry in teacher education. Teachers College Record, 114, 1–50.

Aukerman, M. (2013). Rereading comprehension pedagogies: Toward a dialogic teaching ethic that honors student sensemaking. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 1, A1-A31.

Aukerman, M., Belfatti, M., & Santori, D. (2008). Teaching and learning dialogically organized reading instruction. English Education, 40(4), 340-364.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. University of Texas Press.

Banes, L. C., Houk, J. G., Athanases, S. Z., & Sanchez, S. L. (2022). Multi-lens noticing in pre-service teachers’ first attempts at facilitating discussion in diverse English classes [Paper presentation at AERA (2023) & Manuscript submitted for publication]. School of Education, University of California, Davis.

Barnes, D. (1992). From communication to curriculum. Boynton/Cook- Heinemann.

Bieler, D. (2010). Dialogic praxis in teacher preparation: A discourse analysis of mentoring talk. English Education, 42(4), 391-426.

Boyd, M. (2016). Connecting “Man in the Mirror”: Kindling a classroom dialogic teaching and learning trajectory. L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 16(Special Issue on International Perspectives on Dialogic Theory and Practice), 1-26.

Boyd, M. P., & Janicki-Gechoff, E. (2020). ‘Seeing with poet’s eyes’: Dialogic valuing of the local, the everyday and the personal. Language and Education, 34(1), 1-21.

Boyd, M. P., & Markarian, W. C. (2015). Dialogic teaching and dialogic stance: Moving beyond interactional form. Research in the Teaching of English, 49(3), 272-296.

Bunch, G. C. (2013). Pedagogical language knowledge: Preparing mainstream teachers for English learners in the new standards era. Review of Research in Education, 37, 298-341.

California Department of Education. (2021). Reclassification-English learners (CA Dept of Education). Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/rd/

Candela, A. (1998). Students’ power in classroom discourse. Linguistics and Education, 10(2), 139-163.

Caughlan, S., Pasternak, D. L., Hallman, H. L., Renzi, L., Rush, L. S., & Frisby, M. (2017). How English language arts teachers are prepared for twenty-first-century classrooms: Results of a national study. English Education, 49(3), 265-297.

Christoph, J. N., & Nystrand, M. (2001). Taking risks, negotiating relationships: One teacher's transition toward a dialogic classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 36(2), 249-86.

Clift, R. E., & Brady, P. (2005). Research on methods courses and field experiences. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education (pp. 309-424). Erlbaum.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2009). Inquiry as stance. Teachers College Press.

Cochran-Smith, M., Ell, F., Ludlow, L., Grudnoff, L., & Aitken, G. (2014). The challenge and promise of complexity theory for teacher education research. Teachers College Record, 116, 1-38.

Cohen, E. G., Lotan, R. A., Scarloss, B. A., & Arellano, A. R. (1999). Complex instruction: Equity in cooperative learning classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 38(2), 80-86.

Corno, L. (2008). On teaching adaptively. Educational Psychologist, 43(3), 161-173.

de Oliveira, L. C., & Athanases, S. Z. (2017). A framework to reenvision instructional scaffolding for linguistically diverse learners. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(2), 123–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.663

de Oliveira, L. C., & Jones, L. (2021). Dialogic teaching through interactional scaffolding in practice with multilingual learners in the middle years. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 29(2), i–vi.

Edwards, E., & Roger, P. S. (2015, February). Seeking out challenges to develop L2 self-confidence: A language learner’s journey to proficiency. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 18(4).

Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133-156.

Enright, K. A., Torres-Torretti, D., & Carreón, O. (2012). Hope is the thing with metaphors: De-situating literacies and learning in English Language Arts classrooms. Language and Education, 26(1), 35-51.

Erickson, F. (2011). On noticing teacher noticing. In M. Sherin, V. Jacobs, & R. Philipp (Eds.), Mathematics teacher noticing: Seeing through teachers’ eyes (pp. 17-34). Routledge.

Ferdinandsen, T., Hutchings, M., Athanases, S. Z., Higgs, J., & Aiello, L. (2022). Remotely (re)discovering the how, where, and when of student cross talk. English Journal, 112(1), 40–47.

Flyvbjerg, B. (2001). Making social science matter. Cambridge University Press.

Freedman, S. W., Simons, E. R., Kalnin, J. S., Casareno, A., & The M-CLASS Teams (1999). Inside city schools: Investigating literacy in multicultural classrooms. Teachers College Press.

Freeman, D. (1993). Renaming experience/reconstructing practice: Developing new understanding of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 9(5), 485-497.

Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Rowman and Littlefield.

Ghousseini, H. (2015). Core practices and problems of practice in learning to lead classroom discussions. The Elementary School Journal, 115(3), 334-357.

Glick, Y., & Walqui, A. (2021). Affordances in the development of student voice and agency: The case of bureaucratically labeled long-term English learners. In A. Kibler, G. Valdes, & A. Walqui (Eds.), Reconceptualizing the role of critical dialogue in American classrooms: Promoting equity through dialogic education (pp. 23-52). Routledge.

Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., & McDonald, M. (2009). Redefining teaching, re-imagining teacher education. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 15(2), 273-289.

Gutiérrez, K. D., Baquedano-López, P., & Tejeda, C. (1999). Rethinking diversity: Hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 6(4), 286-303.

Gutiérrez, K. G., Morales, P. Z., & Martinez, D. C. (2009). Re-mediating literacy: Culture, difference, and learning for students from nondominant communities. Review of Research in Education, 33, 212-245.

Gutiérrez, K., & Vossoughi, S. (2010). Lifting off the ground to return anew: Mediated praxis, transformative learning, and social design experiments. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 100-117.

Hammerness, K., Darling-Hammond, L., Bransford, J., Berliner, D., Cochran-Smith, M., McDonald, M., & Zeichner, K. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (First, pp. 358-389). Jossey-Bass.

Hammond, J., & Gibbons, P. (2005). Putting scaffolding to work: The contribution of scaffolding in articulating ESL education. Prospect, 20(1), 6-30.

Hsieh, B. (2015). The importance of orientation: Implications of professional identity on classroom practice and for professional learning. Teachers and Teaching, 21(2), 178-190.

Jadallah, M., Anderson, R., Nguyen-Jahiel, K., Miller, B., Kim, I., Kuo, L., Dong, T., & Wu, X. (2010). Influence of teachers’ scaffolding moves during child-led small discussions. American Educational Research Journal, 48(1), 194-230.

Juzwik, M. M., Borsheim-Black, C., Caughlan, S., & Heintz, A. (2013). Inspiring dialogue: Talking to learn in the English classroom. Teachers College Press.

Kavanagh, S. S., Metz, M., Hauser, M., Fogo, B., Taylor, M. W., & Carlson, J. (2020). Practicing responsiveness: Using approximations of teaching to develop teachers’ responsiveness to students’ ideas. Journal of Teacher Education, 71(1), 94-107.

Kim, M.-Y., & Wilkinson, I. A. G. (2019). What is dialogic teaching? Constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing a pedagogy of classroom talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 21, 70-86.

Korthagen, F. A. J., Kessels, J., Koster, B., Lagerwerf, B., & Wubbels, T. (2001). Linking practice and theory: The pedagogy of realistic teacher education. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Lampert, M. (2000). Knowing teaching: The intersection of research on teaching and qualitative research. Harvard Educational Review, 70(1), 86-99.

Lee, C. D. (2001). Is October brown Chinese? A cultural modeling activity system for underachieving students. American Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 97-141.

Lee. C. D. (2007). Culture, literacy, and learning: Taking bloom in the midst of the whirlwind. Teachers College Press.

Lefstein, A. (2010). More helpful as problem than solution. In K. Littleton & C. Howe (Eds.), Educational dialogues: Understanding and promoting productive interaction (pp. 170-191). Taylor & Francis Group.

Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. University of Chicago Press.

Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Houghton Mifflin.

Matusov, E., & Wegerif, R. (2014). Dialogue on ‘Dialogic Education’: Has Rupert gone over to ‘the Dark Side’? Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 2, E1 - E20, doi:10.5195/dpj.2014.78.

Martinez, D., Morales P., & Aldana, U. (2017). Leveraging students’ communicative repertoires as a tool for equitable learning. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 477-499.

Medina, C. (2010). “Reading across communities” in biliteracy practices: Examining translocal discourses and cultural flows in literature discussions. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(1), 40-60.

Mehan, H. (1982). The structure of classroom events and their consequences for student performance. In P. Gilmore, & A. Glatthorn (Eds.), Children in and out of school (pp. 59-87). Center for Applied Linguistics.

Meneses, A., Hugo, E., García, M. de los Á., & Müller, M. (2018). Facilitating academic text-based discussions in initial teacher education: Evaluating specialized knowledge. Teaching and Teacher Education, 69, 119-130.

Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. Jossey-Bass.

Murphy, S. (2003). That was then, this is now: The impact of changing assessment policies on teachers and the teaching of writing in California. Journal of Writing Assessment, 1(1), 23-45.

Nystrand, M. (1997). Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. Teachers College Press.

Nystrand, M., & Gamoran, A. (1991). Instructional discourse, student engagement, and literature achievement. Research in the Teaching of English, 25(3), 261-290.

Nystrand, M., Wu, L. L., Gamoran, A., Zeiser, S., & Long, D. A. (2003). Questions in time: Investigating the structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse. Discourse Processes, 35(2), 135–198.

O’Connor, C., & Michaels, S. (2007). When is dialogue ‘dialogic’? Human Development, 50(5), 275-285.

Oakes, J., Rogers, J., & Lipton, M. (2006). Learning power: Organizing for education and justice. Teachers College Press.

Oakes, J., Wells, A. S., Jones, M., & Datnow, A. (1997). Detracking: The social construction of ability, cultural politics, and resistance to reform. Teachers College Record, 98(3), 482-510.

Ohlsson, J. (2013). Team learning: Collective reflection processes in teacher teams. Journal of Workplace Learning, 25(5), 296-309.

Parsons, S. A., Vaughn, M., Scales, R. Q., Gallagher, M. A., Parsons, A. W., Davis, S. G., ... Allen, M. (2018). Teachers’ instructional adaptations: A research synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 88(2), 205-242.

Pastoor, L. de W. (2005). Discourse and learning in a Norwegian multiethnic classroom: Developing shared understanding through classroom discourse. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 20(1), 13-27.

Patterson Williams, A. D., Athanases, S. Z., Higgs, J., & Martinez, D. C. (2020). Developing an inner witness to notice for equity in the fleeting moments of talk for content learning. Equity & Excellence in Education, 53(4), 504–517. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2020.1791282

Peterson, S., & Calovini, T. (2004). Social ideologies in grade eight students’ conversation and narrative writing. Linguistics and Education, 15(1-2), 121-139.

Resnick, L. B. (2010). Nested learning systems for the thinking curriculum. Educational Researcher, 39(3), 183-197.

Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C. S. C., & Clark, S. N. (2015). Socializing intelligence through academic talk and dialogue. American Educational Research Association.

Reznitskaya, A. (2012). Dialogic teaching: Rethinking language use during literature discussions. The Reading Teacher, 65(7), 446-456.

Reznitskaya, A., Anderson, R. C., McNurlen, B., Nguyen-Jahiel, K., Archodidou, A., & Kim, S. (2001). Influence of oral discussion on written argument. Discourse Processes, 32(2 & 3), 155-175.

Rogers, T., Marshall, E., & Tyson, C. A. (2006). Dialogic narratives of literacy, teaching, and schooling: Preparing literacy teachers for diverse settings. Reading Research Quarterly, 41(2), 202-224.

Rosaen, C. L., Lundberg, M., Cooper, M., Fritzen, A., & Terpstra, M. (2008). Noticing noticing: How does investigation of video records change how teachers reflect on their experiences? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(4), 347-360.

Sawyer, R. K. (2004). Creative teaching: Collaborative discussion as disciplined improvisation. Educational Researcher, 33(2), 12-20.

Sawyer, R. K. (2011). Structure and improvisation in creative teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Schultz, K. (2009). Rethinking classroom participation: Listening to silent voices. Teachers College Press.

Sedova, K. (2017). A case study of a transition to dialogic teaching as a process of gradual change. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 278-290.

Sedova, K. (2021). Is dialogic teaching sustainable? Portrait of a teacher three years after completing a teacher development programme. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 9, A37-A59.

Sedova, K., Salamounova, Z., & Svaricek, R. (2014). Troubles with dialogic teaching. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 3(4), 274-285.

Sherin, M., Jacobs, V., & Philipp, R. (Eds.) (2011). Mathematics teacher noticing: Seeing through teachers’ eyes. Routledge.

Sherry, M. B. (2019). Emergence and development of a dialogic whole-class discussion genre. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal, 7, A27-A57.

Shulman, L. S. (1983). Autonomy and obligation: The remote control of teaching. In L. Shulman & G. Sykes (Eds.), Handbook of teaching and policy (pp. 484-504). Longman.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching foundations of the new reform. Harvard Education Review, 57(1), 1-22.

Smagorinsky, P. (2017). Discussion, conversation, and dialogue: Applebee, Bakhtin, and speech in schools. In R. K. Durst, G. E. Newell, & J. D. Marshall (Eds.), English language arts research and teaching: Revisiting and extending Arthur Applebee’s contributions (pp. 27-40). Routledge.

Smagorinsky, P., Rhym, D., & Moore, C. P. (2013). Competing centers of gravity: A beginning English teacher’s socialization process within conflictual settings. English Education, 45(2), 147-183.

Stake, R. E. (2006). Multiple case study analysis. Guilford Press.

Stillman, J. (2011). Teacher learning in an era of high-stakes accountability: Productive tension and critical professional practice. Teachers College Record, 113(1), 133-180

Strauss, A. L. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge University Press.

Taylor, M. (1996). Song of the trees. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.

Thomas, P. (1978). Amigo brothers. In P. Thomas, Stories from El Barrio. Knopf.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). The Condition of Education 2021 (NCES 2021-144), Concentration of Public School Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=898

van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2009). Patterns of contingent teaching in teacher-student interaction. Learning and Instruction, 21, 46-57.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Eds. and Trans.). MIT Press.

Wells, G. (2007). Semiotic mediation, dialogue and the construction of knowledge. Human Development, 50(5), 244-274.

Wertsch (1985). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Harvard University Press.

Williamson, P. (2013). Enacting high leverage practices in English methods: The case of discussion. English Education, 46(1), 34-67.

Wills, J. S., & Sandholtz, J. H. (2009). Constrained professionalism: Dilemmas of teaching in the face of test-based accountability. Teachers College Record, 111(4), 1065-1114.

Zeichner, K. M. (2009). Teacher education and the struggle for social justice. Routledge.

Zuidema, L. A., & Fredricksen, J. E. (2016). Resources preservice teachers use to think about student writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 51(1), 12-36.