Janneke van de Pol

Shifting the primary focus: assessing the case for dialogic education in secondary classrooms

Dialogic theories and practices in education have grown over the last decade; in the United Kingdom, however, most research in the field has been carried out in primary schools. Six leading academic researchers in the field are interviewed to explore the reasons for this primary bias to date, and their perceptions of both the difficulties and the potential benefits of dialogic education in secondary schools. Primary schools are portrayed as having greater flexibility and a more holistic approach that is conducive to dialogue; secondary schools, as restricted by organisational, psychological and assessment pressures. These issues are seen as significant but not insurmountable; furthermore, a consensus emerges about the validity and necessity of dialogic approaches in secondary schools. Distinct affordances are suggested and explored. The case is then made for greater research and practice of dialogic secondary education: away from the study of individual subjects as unitary and segregated bodies of knowledge, and towards encouraging dialogues within and across academic subjects as a way of increasing students’ motivation, enriching their learning, and promoting more flexible thinking.

Teacher Scaffolding in Small-Group Work: An Intervention Study

Adapting support contingently to student needs by first diagnosing their current understanding, that is, scaffolding, is considered a key aspect of excellent teaching. The use of classroom scaffolding is rare, however. We therefore investigated the benefits to teachers of a professional development program that was based upon a model of contingent teaching (MCT) with the following 4 steps: diagnostic strategies, checking of diagnoses, giving contingent support, and checking of student learning. In our experimental study, 17 of 30 teachers participated in this program. All of the teachers (prevocational education; teaching social studies) taught the same 5-lesson project on the European Union. The frequency and quality of their use of the 4 steps from the MCT were then compared. The teachers who worked with the MCT increased their teaching quality more than the teachers who did not participate, especially with regard to the steps of contingent teaching. They also showed more complete cycles of contingent teaching at postmeasurement than the other teachers. Less successful teachers showed a tendency to provide less support because they mistakenly thought that prompting was not part of scaffolding. Future scaffolding research and professional development efforts aimed at promoting scaffolding can benefit from the MCT, provided that teachers’ understanding of scaffolding is closely monitored.

Two secondary teachers’ understanding and classroom practice of dialogic teaching: a case study

Abstract Dialogic Teaching (DT) is effective in fostering student learning; yet, it is hard to implement. Little research focused on secondary teachers’ learning of DT and on the link between teachers’ understanding and practices, although these two are usually strongly intertwined. Using a wide range of evidence, this case study systematically investigated and compared two secondary teachers’ understanding and practice of DT during their participation in a continuing professional development programme (CPDP). The CPDP appeared effective to some extent. The History teacher’s understanding of DT, i.e. being a co-learner, appeared highly effective in implementing DT, whereas the Mathematics teacher’s understanding of DT, i.e. creating a democratic learning environment, seemed only effective to some extent. Focusing on both teachers’ understanding and practice when developing DT seemed fruitful in explaining differences in practice. Future research could further explore to what extent understanding DT as being a co-learner facilitates professional development.

Scalability Coefficients for Two-Level Polytomous Item Scores: An Introduction and an Application

First, we made an overview of nonparametric item response models and the corresponding scalability coefficients in Mokken scale analysis for single-level item scores and two-level dichotomous item scores. Second, we generalized these models and coefficients to two-level polytomous item scores. Third, we applied the new scalability coefficients to a real-data example, and compared the outcomes with results obtained using single-level reliability analysis and single-level Mokken scale analysis. Results suggest that coefficients from single-level analyses do not provide accurate information about scalability of two-level item scores.

Guiding classroom discussions for democratic citizenship education

Abstract Classroom discussion is frequently proposes as an essential part of democratic citizenship education. Literature, however, pays little attention to what kind of discussion is most effective and how teachers can facilitate a discussion. This study aims to contribute to the development of a framework for analysing the characteristics of classroom discussions and the different roles teachers can adopt in guiding a discussion on controversial issues. In addition, we investigated how the way teachers guide the discussion is related to the structure and content features of the discussion. The framework was used to analyse five classroom discussions in secondary education. Our framework appeared to be useful for revealing differences in the structure and content features of the classroom discussions and in the way teachers guide the discussion. The results also indicated that a high degree of teacher regulation was related to high content quality and more participation from students. A high degree of student regulation was linked to more genuine discussion among students. The study underlines the importance of taking account of the teacher’s role in research into the effectiveness of classroom discussions for democratic citizenship education and the study makes useful suggestions for teachers when preparing for a classroom discussion.