Dialogic pedagogy and semiotic-dialogic inquiry into visual literacies and augmented reality

Technological determinism has been driving conceptions of technology enhanced learning for the last two decades at least. The abrupt shift to the emergency delivery of online courses during COVID-19 has accelerated big tech’s coup d’état of higher education, perhaps irrevocably. Yet, commercial technologies are not necessarily aligned with dialogic conceptions of learning while a technological transmission model negates learners’ input and interactions. Mikhail Bakhtin viewed words as the multivocal bridge to social thought. His theory of the polysemy of language, that has subsequently been termed dialogism, has strong correlations with the semiotic philosophy of American pragmatist Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce’s semiotic philosophy of signs extends far beyond words, speech acts, linguistics, literary genres, and/or indeed human activity. This study traces links between Bakhtin’s dialogism with Peirce’s semiotics. Conceptual synthesis develops the semiotic-dialogic framework. Taking augmented reality as a theoretical case, inquiry illustrates that while technologies are subsuming traditional pedagogies, teachers and learners, this does not necessarily open dialogic learning. This is because technologies are never dialogic, in and of themselves, although semiotic learning always involves social actors’ interpretations of signs. Crucially, semiotic-dialogism generates theorising of the visual literacies required by learners to optimise technologies for dialogic learning.

Dialogic Literary Gatherings: Opening Up Spaces of Meaning Creation and Social Transformation for Roma People

Dialogic Literary Gatherings (DLGs) were created in La Verneda-Sant Martí Adult School, located in one of the poorest working-class neighborhoods in Barcelona (Spain) at the time, in 1978, by a group of non-academic women referred to as the “other women” (Puigvert, 2001). They were created with the aim of tearing down elitist walls which impeded low Socioeconomic Status, migrant, Roma, people with no academic studies or belonging to other excluded groups in society from reading universal classics of literature (Flecha, 2000). None of the participants in the first DLGs had university studies, and yet, they were able to read, understand, enjoy and debate works of authors such as Kafka, Lorca, Dostoyevsky, or Joyce. Moreover, as the scientific research conducted over these years has shown, DLGs have promoted great benefits among these populations, from fostering access to higher education, to increasing their self-esteem, or to becoming transformative agents in front of injustices. DLGs are based on dialogic learning, which is comprised of seven principles. This paper focuses on two of these principles: creation of meaning and transformation. Through reviewing empirical works about DLGs in Spain with adult participants, I argue that the dialogic interactions in which DLGs are grounded and the use of universal classic literature promote participants’ creation of meaning and transformations in their own lives and social contexts.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PARTNERSHIP PEDAGOGY IDEAS IN THE MODERN DIMENSION

The article identifies the place and role of partnership pedagogy in the context of the New Ukrainian School. It is noted that in connection with the reform of education, there is a need for a more thorough study of the structural components of the New Ukrainian School, among which is defined pedagogy, which is based on the partnership between student, teacher and parents. The purpose of the article is to analyze the results of research, scientific developments, which have become the scientific basis for the study and research of partnership pedagogy. The article uses such general scientific methods as: analysis (psychological and pedagogical literature, information sources on the research problem), synthesis, comparison, systematization of scientific sources (to identify the state of the problem), generalization (to determine the leading category of research). It is established that the pedagogy of partnership in the period from 2000 to the appearance of the New Ukrainian School was studied in terms of: pedagogical interaction, subject-subject interaction, interactive learning, dialogic learning. These aspects are analyzed in the context of partnership pedagogy and determined that they are based on the principles of voluntariness, mutual interest, mutual support and mutual assistance, dialogue and compromise, responsibility, reconciliation of interests, equality, trust, respect and friendliness. These principles correspond to the basic principles of partnership pedagogy. It is noted that during this period the first scientific works appeared, the subject of research of which became partnership. The dissertation researches of O. Kokhanova and V. Molochenko are of great importance in the formation of partnership pedagogy, as the concept of "pedagogical interaction" is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the content and structure of this concept are determined.

Dialogic Learning as an Alternative Approach for Mathematics Classrooms

This article characterizes the Dialogic Learning (DL) approach, presenting its constitutive elements using the literature related to the studies that have dealt with this theme in the specific context of practices and learning in math classes. In this way, the conception of dialogue that is practiced lies in the interaction between educator and learner through written language. The text also reports and shows two illustrative records that are used to establish a discussion about the importance of the activity and to emphasize how significant would be to disseminate the methodology amid math teachers at all educational levels. The DL approach aggregates important dimensions of communication and interaction between participants that are necessary to construct a differentiated idea about making mathematics, replacing the restrictive image disseminated over time by the classic lecture classes.

Professional Training of Primary School Teacher to Organize Dialogic Learning for Students: Theoretical Context

The urgency of the problem of future primary school teacher training for dialogic learning of students taking into account modern challenges of globalization and digitalization of education is substantiated. The contradictions taking place in the practice of professional training in pedagogical universities are emphasized. The theoretical aspect of the outlined problem is highlighted. The characteristics of the content of the following concepts are given: dialogic learning, educational dialogue, dialogic communication, pedagogical communication, the teacher’s communication culture, communication etiquette, etc. The components of teachers’ pedagogical skills as personal and professional factors of successful organization of dialogic learning in school are presented. It is proved that the organization of dialogic learning at school requires the formation of a teacher's system of skills, namely: to organize and manage the dialogic process in learning; create a positive communicative atmosphere for the exchange of thoughts and ideas; pedagogically expedient to stimulate communication between students; apply advanced dialogic learning technologies; motivate students to create or solve educational tasks using productive dialogue; effectively use means of verbal and nonverbal communication; make emotional contact and listen to the interlocutor, etc. The strategy of communicative approach in the educational process of the pedagogical university is widespread, first of all as for humanities. The author notes that the readiness of future primary school teachers to organize a productive educational dialogue is determined not only by the level of development of communicative abilities and skills, but also other personal traits: intellectual qualities, motivation for teaching, love for children, emotional balance, empathy, tolerance, professional responsibility, high level of moral culture, readiness for innovative activity, desire for self-improvement and self-education, etc. The author's material from the dissertation “Training of primary school teachers to organize dialogic learning” for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (2020) is partially used in the article.

Challenging Bourdieu’s Theory: Dialogic Interaction as a Means to Provide Access to Highbrow Culture for All

According to Bourdieu, class position is related to cultural capital, taste, and preferences. Accordingly, the author states that, because of their “habitus,” those from high social classes have higher cultural capital and preferences for highbrow culture, which gives them more chances to succeed in life. On the contrary, those from low social classes have lower cultural capital because of their lowbrow cultural preferences, which makes it more difficult for them to achieve in a system that favors the dominant classes. Through the review of articles on Dialogic Literary Gatherings published in peer-reviewed journals, this article aims to provide more insights on how the principles of dialogic learning occur. The results of the review challenge Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus,” providing evidence of how socioeconomic status (SES) is not determinant to cultural capital.

Interreligious Dialogue Groups Enabling Human Agency

Evidence has shown that interreligious dialogue is one of the paths to build bridges among diverse cultural and religious communities that otherwise would be in conflict. Some literature reflects, from a normative standpoint, on how interreligious dialogue should be authentic and meaningful. However, there is scarce literature on what conditions contribute to this dialogue achieving its desirable goals. Thus, our aim was to examine such conditions and provide evidence of how interreligious dialogue enables human agency. By analyzing the activity of interreligious dialogue groups, we document the human agency they generate, and we gather evidence about the features of the conditions. For this purpose, we studied four interreligious dialogue groups, all affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Association for Interreligious Dialogue (AUDIR), employing in-depth interviews and discussion groups. In these groups, which operate in diverse and multicultural neighborhoods, local actors and neighbors hold dialogues about diversity issues. In so doing, social coexistence, friendship ties, and advocacy initiatives arise. After analyzing the collected data, we conclude that for interreligious dialogue to result in positive and promising outputs, it must meet some principles of dialogic learning, namely equality of differences, egalitarian dialogue, cultural intelligence, solidarity, and transformation.

How Philosophizing the Dialogos Way Can Promote Education for Sustainable Development

This paper is an inquiry into an action research process in which staff from a combined vocational and academic upper secondary school philosophized “The Dialogos Way” together, as part of ongoing curriculum reforms in Norway. Some teachers were also trained in facilitating such dialogs with their students. Since sustainable development is one of three interdisciplinary topics now supposed to run through all subjects at all educational levels, our chosen action inquiry research question in this paper reads as follows: How can training teachers in philosophizing the Dialogos Way promote attitudes and skills required for dialogic learning-and-teaching, and how can this form of learning-and-teaching support education for sustainable development? Using teachers’ and students’ meta-reflection notes as data, the authors find that the Dialogos approach offers a fruitful way of integrating sustainable development issues in the curriculum.