Notes Toward a Theory of Dialogue

Multiple dimensions of dialogue as pedagogical practice are examined in the following three essays. In the first piece, “When Life Imitates Art: Notes on the Nature of Dialogue,” poet and essayist Jane Vanderbosch reflects about the politics of silence and voice in graduate school. She analyzes how power and politics charge the atmosphere of the classroom. In “The Pedagogy of Dialogue: A Relation Between Means and End,“ Grace Deniston-Trochta focuses on self-examining the possibility of dialogue in a large “pit” classroom. She proposes teacher as listener/learner, a teacher who is self-reflective and respectful. In the final essay, “Managing the Silence of Children,” Ed Check considers how power and control are mediated in the lives of students and teachers. He implicates himself in his discussion as he reflects on a conversation with his nephew. Throughout, the writers dissect pedagogy as dialogue through the personal as political. Each reveals how telling one’s truths is a site to rethink institutionalized strategies and self-imposed silences