Dialogic Education : Mastering core concepts through thinking together

Dialogue has long been used in primary classrooms to stimulate thinking but it is not always easy to unite the creative thinking of good dialogue with the need for children to understand the core concepts behind knowledge rich subjects. Dialogic Education builds upon decades of practical classroom research to offer a method of teaching that applies the power of dialogue to achieving conceptual mastery. Easy to follow lesson plans and activity ideas are provided, each of which has been tried and tested in classrooms and is known to succeed.

Dialogue has long been used in primary classrooms to stimulate thinking, but it is not always easy to unite the creative thinking of good dialogue with the need for children to understand the core concepts behind knowledge-rich subjects. A sound understanding of key concepts is essential to progress through the national curriculum, and assessment of this understanding along with effective feedback is central to good practice.

Dialogic Education builds upon decades of practical classroom research to offer a method of teaching that applies the power of dialogue to achieving conceptual mastery. Easy-to-follow template lesson plans and activity ideas are provided, each of which has been tried and tested in classrooms and is known to succeed.

Providing a structure for engaging children and creating an environment in which dialogue can flourish, this book is separated into three parts:

• Establishing a classroom culture of learning;
• Core concepts across the curriculum;
• Wider dialogues: Educational adventures in the conversation of mankind.

Written to support all those in the field of primary education, this book will be an essential resource for student, trainee and qualified primary teachers interested in the educational importance of dialogue.