Executive Summary A characteristic of the new economy is a market-driven demand for flexibility and change that has put reflection and lifelong learning high on the agenda (Brinkmann & Tanggaard, 2013). Reflection and lifelong learning are not the only capabilities required for individuals to thrive in these conditions of uncertainty and change. Any number of capabilities such as critical thinking, resilience, creativity, thinking on your feet can be added to such a list. But it is not the ‘list’ that is important, rather it is a way of thinking and being that enables use and development of such capabilities for individuals to thrive in times of uncertainty and ongoing, rapid change. The authors of this report argue that this suggests a need for a shift from a traditional focus on educator and content to dialogical processes of teaching and learning that bring a focus to learners and learning. If as educators, in the Singapore context, we want to provide opportunities courseies for development of reflective analysis, lifelong learning and mastery (SkillsFuture, 2015), it is incumbent on us to explore promising pedagogies like dialogical teaching, learning and inquiry that position learners as (co) constructors of knowledge, as researchers of questions, issues or problems they have identified, as involved in making judgements about their work and the work of their peers, and more. The lead researchers undertook a study of dialogical teaching in two different Masters courses at a Singapore University (namely, Workplace Learning and Performance, and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and Knowledge Building), taught by the researchers. This deeply qualitative study collected multiple forms of evidence from these two case studies over the time of each Masters’ course to address the following research questions: 1. How do adult learners in formal graduate courses develop awareness of their inquiry and how do they co-construct knowledge? 2. How do adult learners perceive the relevance and value of dialogical approach to teaching and learning? 3. What are the implications of the dialogical approach for the practices of adult educators? We define dialogical teaching as involving learners in the collaborative construction of meaning through dialogue and interaction with multiple artefacts. Learners actively participate through having control over topics for inquiry and the learning processes, drawing on their rich experiences as resources for learning. Key features of dialogical teaching are the use of authentic problems which learners select, thus giving them some control over the learning processes and design of the spaces of learning. Findings from both cases illustrate similar experiences of the dialogical teaching and learning process, including challenges learners experienced, overcoming the theory-practice divide, development of deeper understanding, and developing identities as learners and as practitioners. Paying attention to emergent and deepening meta-cognitive processes involved in dialogical inquiry and knowledge-co-construction processes was facilitated through the use of tools such as the Map of dialogical inquiry and concept mapping where students could see changes and growth in their understandings and expansion in their ways of thinking. Importantly the changes in identity as learners is a powerful outcome that positions learners well for facing future, unknown challenges. Overall, students deeply valued the dialogical teaching approach that afforded them the opportcoursey to clarify, question, interpret, and work with different kinds of evidence to co-construct knowledge amidst multiple perspectives and voices. However, in both cases students reported considerable challenges. For example, students reported a perceived lack of structure, were
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