ERIC Number: EJ1414106
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0782
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7581
Dialogic Teaching of Controversial Issues: Discursive Moves to Enact Two-Sided Discussions
Yuchen Shi; Zihong Zhang; Shu Cao; Qunying Liu
Language and Education, v38 n2 p303-319 2024
Dialogic teaching -- in which teachers and students address controversial issues -- has become increasingly common in school education to promote civic participation in deliberative democracy. This study addresses this question: when leading whole-class discussions on controversial issues, what discursive moves could teachers adopt to enact two-sided discussions that address conflicting perspectives? The present study analyzed data from an intervention study promoting dialogic teaching of controversial issues in the Morality and Law subject in fourth-grade (9- to 10-year-olds) elementary classrooms in China. We identified and analyzed episodes from transcripts of video-recorded classroom interactions in which the teachers employed a variety of discursive moves to encourage students to consider, negotiate, and debate opposing positions. Our analyses revealed that the teachers did not directly instruct students to consider opposing perspectives but guided their exchange of multiple perspectives. The teachers also partnered with students in the knowledge construction process by directly questioning, countering, or critiquing students' arguments. Implications for encouraging teachers' spontaneity and improvisation during dialogic teaching, as well as for using challenging, controversial topics to promote two-sided whole-class discussions, are addressed.
Descriptors: Dialogs (Language), Elementary School Students, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Intervention, Moral Values, Moral Development, Laws, Teaching Methods, Foreign Countries, Video Technology, Persuasive Discourse, Classroom Communication, Questioning Techniques
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A