Dialogic teaching has been around for decades - you probably remember covering it in your teacher training. Some call it “teacher talk”, but essentially, it’s an approach to teaching and learning based in conversation (see box).

But is it still relevant for teachers today?

According to Professor Rupert Wegerif, it most definitely is - more so today than ever. 

However, he believes it needs an update. 

Through the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), which he directs at Cambridge University, Wegerif is on a mission to bring dialogic education into the digital age. This matters, he says, because education should be about utilising global networks to expand knowledge, rather than working towards final assessments. 

“Education shouldn’t be about passing exams, but about expanding dialogic space. Teachers and pupils need to expand their capacity to maintain different ideas together, and to explore, and be aware of, a range of ideas,” he explains.

Moving this approach into the digital age, he says, means creating a number of opportunities for pupils to connect with others across the world, and share learning experiences virtually. 

“It’s enriching for people to be part of global debates. I believe we should see education conceptually; it should be about joining these larger dialogues, and how you facilitate that,” he says.

The internet makes this easier, he stresses: whatever interest you might have, you can explore it and enhance it by joining communities of enquiry online and working with others to develop your knowledge. These connections aren’t just important for students, but for teachers, too. It’s here that the DEFI can help, he says. 

Learning through networks, rather than in isolation

While still in its infancy - the initiative was set up last year - DEFI is working to introduce a range of programmes for teachers and students to use for free.

The first is CamTree, the Cambridge Teacher Research Exchange, a global platform for teachers to research together, share their close-to-practice research and discuss their experience and expertise with others.

“It illustrates the principles of education that I’m talking about, which is empowerment in the sense that everybody can have a voice and can share with others,” he says. “But also it’s about networking and building communities. It’s about learning through networks, rather than in isolation.” 

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The second is the Cambridge Open Web of Learning, which is tailored to primary and secondary students. Wegerif is still trying to secure funding for this, but if he can, he thinks it could transform everyday schooling. 

The idea is that a group of students in different parts of the world can come together to tackle a particular problem - either global or local - through shared enquiry. 

“This could run in parallel with lessons, or augment them,” he says. “There’s empowerment, differentiation and building networks. It could enhance global citizenship, and encourage students to work towards a more peaceful future where people understand each other across different cultures.”

Wegerif is determined that both of these initiatives would be successful - and that’s because there are already similar platforms in place around the world that schools are utilising. 

In Japan, for example, teachers use a platform called Lesson Study to develop new curricula. In the US, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a platform called Scratch, which encourages children to code and share the games they’re creating with their peers - currently, there are 92 million registered users. 

The success of these models could be replicated in the UK, he says, which is exactly what Cambridge Open Web of Learning aims to do.

The hurdles schools need to overcome

However, there are hurdles that schools will need to overcome when introducing digital dialogic learning. 

The first is safeguarding: unregulated online communities can present risks to young people, and many schools already struggle to manage this, without adding new platforms into the mix.

Wegerif recognises this is a real issue and says that standards and regulations need to be in place in the industry. At DEFI, the researchers are trying to protect children through a programme called “Inquiring Online”, which educates primary children about how to think critically and assess the quality of websites. It’s really important to do this work with younger children, he adds. 

The next hurdle is access to the devices that facilitate this work. It is a funding and infrastructure issue, he says - and thanks, in part to Covid, it’s become obvious that having access to the internet needs to be a basic, national service. 

While teachers can’t control that, they can do things like encourage students to bring their own devices into lessons, or connect with global communities as a whole class or in smaller groups, rather than as individuals, to make sure everyone has the opportunity to engage, he adds. 

The third, and final, hurdle is ensuring teachers have the confidence to embed digital dialogic learning in their lessons. But actually, teachers are more experienced than they may think in this approach, he says. 

“In education, there’s a long tradition of being part of big active networks discussing things together. That’s where CamTree comes in: if teachers could join with peers, and learn from those who are more expert, ask them for their advice and how to try something out, that would be a way in which teachers can build up that confidence,” he says. 

Wegerif, clearly, is very passionate about the role digital dialogic learning has to play in education in the future. He strongly believes that there is an appetite for a system that moves away from exam preparation, and towards peer-to-peer learning networks.  

“There’s a lot of pressure from the world of work, from parents, and from students, to move towards dialogic learning - because of the lifetime skills it fosters. I don’t see change happening very quickly in the UK, but countries like Scotland and Wales are very innovative around the kind of skills and dispositions needed for the future,” he says. 

“I would personally suggest in terms of change, revolutionary change is very disruptive for everybody, and it’s unlikely to happen. But the change we’re pushing for is more evolutionary: we want to augment learning; we want digital dialogic learning to enhance and support education for both teachers and students.” 

Professor Rupert Wegerif will be one of the keynote speakers at Future FWD, a creative conference enabling the next generation to succeed. Find out more at futurefwd.org.