challenged by the multiple perspectives and voices, by the discovery that their views and thoughts were valued, that they were the constructors of knowledge and of meaning–making and as such had to take responsibility for their own learning. This was the students’ first experience of dialogical teaching thus they were unable to ‘see’ the structure of the courses as it was not familiar to them. They were initially confused, but learnt that they had to take charge of their own learning. These challenges lay bare the previous learning experiences based on monologic teaching. Students specifically commented that the demands of previous courses require a particular kind of reproduction, typical of monologic design and facilitation. Despite the challenges and struggles, students valued this approach; the ability to work with multiple perspectives, to be creative, to be able to offer and receive true critique and develop creative solutions are all hallmarks of knowledge workers. Dialogical teaching offers an important alternative to monologic teaching that better meets the needs of today’s, and the future workforce. While dialogic teaching is more readily applicable to longer courses where learners have time to develop relationships, trust, undertake inquiry, co-construct knowledge; for short courses, there are aspects of dialogical teaching that can be used to encourage the development of skills and capability and develop deeper understanding. These aspects may include for example, focusing on ways of thinking such as Bound, Chia, and Karmel (2016) found in a course for IT Network engineers where students followed a particular logic provided to them then worked collaboratively to solve problems from simple to complex. Recommendations Dialogic teaching is one of a range of approaches that move away from monologic teaching with the following key principles:
learners have choice;
authentic problems and issues are at the core of the curriculum design (inclusive of assessment);
multiple(?) forms of inquiry are used; and
dialogue amongst(?) learners whose voice is valued is given more time than educator talk.
There are many constructivist approaches that are inclusive of dialogue between learners. Educators may not be ready to move into all aspects of dialogical teaching, but could be encouraged to experiment with various aspects of dialogic teaching. This is a useful way in which to build pedagogical capability. However, educators need a sense of permission (from themselves and from the systems that they work within) and/or support to try out different techniques and approaches. Consequently, we have recognised that there are three main challenges in implementing dialogic teaching approaches, or aspects of this approach:
The need for system change to support approaches such as dialogical teaching;
Changes in the design of curriculum; and
Capability development of educators.
These are discussed in detail in Chapter 6.
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