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Home > Reflective Teaching in Primary Schools >  3. Teaching for learning > 12. Communication > Further reading > Dialogic teaching and learning


  1. 1. Becoming a reflective professional
       1. Identity
       2. Learning
  2.    3. Reflection
  3.    4. Principles
  4.    Observing [supplementary chapter]
  5.    Enquiry [supplementary chapter]
  6.    Mentoring [supplementary chapter]
  7.    Techniques of enquiry
       [supplementary chapter]

  8. 2. Creating conditions for learning
  9.    5. Contexts
  10.    6. Relationships
  11.    7. Engagement
  12.    8. Spaces

  13. 3. Teaching for learning
  14.    9. Curriculum
  15.    10. Planning
  16.    11. Pedagogy
  17.    12. Communication
  18.    13. Assessment

  19. 4. Reflecting on consequences
  20.    14. Outcomes
  21.    15. Social justice
  22.    Judgement
       [supplementary chapter]

  23. 5. Deepening understanding
  24.    16. Teacher expertise
  25.    17. Professional learning
  26.    18. Professionalism
  27.    Starting out [supplementary
       chapter]
  28.    Improvement [supplementary
       chapter]

Dialogic teaching and learning

These two books offer practical support for how to implement dialogic approaches to teaching and learning in the classroom, the latter book in relation to texts. 

  • Phillipson, N. and Wegerif, R. (2017) Dialogic Education: Mastering Core Concepts Through Thinking Together. London: Routledge.
  • Wilkinon, I., Bourdage, K., (2021). Quality talk about text. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

The cutting edge of understanding of effective teaching and learning is now focused on ‘dialogic teaching’, about which Alexander and Mercer have made exceptional contributions. For summaries and applications, see:

  • Alexander, R. (2008) Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking Classroom Talk, Cambridge: Dialogos. (Reading 12.3)
  • Littleton, K. and Mercer, N. (2013) Interthinking: Putting Talk to Work, Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Mercer, N. and Littleton, K. (2007) Dialogue and the Development of Children’s Thinking, London: Routledge. (Reading 11.6)
  • Nystrand, M. (1997) Opening Dialogue: Understanding the Dynamics of Language and Learning in the English Classroom, New York: Teachers College Press.
  • Wegerif, R. B. (2013) Dialogic: Education for the Internet Age, Abingdon: Routledge.      

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