Troubles with dialogic teaching

This paper examines dialogic teaching in Czech lower secondary schools and shows how Czech teachers use forms of dialogic teaching in their practice. We understand dialogic teaching as a method that harnesses communication and students’ work with language to promote their activity, deepen their thinking and enrich their understanding (Alexander, 2006). Yet, although Czech teachers praise the benefits of dialogic teaching, they are not capable of fully implementing its forms in their teaching. This paper identifies the basic deficits that accompany attempts at dialogic teaching. These are insufficient emphasis on rational argumentation and semantic noise. The paper concludes by suggesting that it is necessary to further develop the concept of dialogic teaching so that it can be incorporated into everyday teaching.