“Stop Talking and Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper”: Active Minds in Passive Classrooms

• In Event: The Whole World’s Talking: Conceptualizing the Universality of Dialogic Learning in Localized Contexts

Abstract

Objective
The objective of this project has been to elicit the stories of young artists, particularly how they negotiate the authoritative discourse of formal schooling. “Formal” here is used to reference prevalent test-centered methods of instruction that rely on “listening to and reading language rather than taking actions that are relevant to that language” (Gee 2013).
Theory
The theoretical frame of this presentation is Dialogic learning (Matusov, 2009, Wegerif 2009), which constitutes a constellation of theories: activity theory (Engestrom, Miettinen, & Punamaki, 1999), Discourse theory (Gee, 1992, 1996), distributed cognition (Hutchins, 1995), situated learning (Lave, 1988), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978). Dialogic learning contends that people’s desire to achieve a goal, can be facilitated by interacting with like-minded others who collectively learn or synthesize pathways towards the attainment of that goal. This is different from the authoritative, passive type of school discourse, which includes direct instruction, demonstration, and lecture (Mercer, 2010).
Method
The study involved a series of 5 case studies. Each participant, a former student of the researcher in a U.S. suburban school, identified him/herself as an artist. Participants did not know each other. All were white, middle-class. Employing methods of narrative inquiry (Cole & Knowles, 2001; Goodson & Sikes, 2001), life story data were collected including artifacts and field notes obtained through recorded interviews, which elicited recollections, emotions, and reflections (McLeod & Thomson, 2009). The participants’ artworks were used to initiate discussions (2009). Data was coded into thematic categories.
Data
The participants offered narratives of life experiences that were framed into life histories (Coles & Knowles, 2001; Goodson & Sikes, 2001). Artifacts of the young artists’ works included pictures, poems, short stories, blogs, and videos of spoken word performances.
Results
Each participant told of being denied opportunities within school to engage in productive class discussions regarding topics that mattered to them. Two of the participants joined out-of-school affinity groups whose members collectively and collaboratively engage in a specific practice (Gee, 2007). These particular dialogic spaces, whose members vary in skill and expertise, are entered for the purpose of sharing artwork (creative writing) and gathering constructive feedback, which they use to refine their knowledge and skills and consequently their identities as artists (Lave & Wenger, 1991). These two participants have subsequently been published and critically acclaimed. Their dynamic stories are the focus of this presentation.
Significance
The benefits of active, product-driven, dialogic learning have been acknowledged at least since Plato’s Socratic dialogues. However, the significance of this study is that it is framed from the students’ points-of-view, chronicling their rejection of authoritative classroom discourses and seeking membership in alternative dialogic spaces, a process that underscores the socio-cultural nature of learning itself.
Formal, impersonal, passive methodologies driven by rewards and credentials have always been problematic amongst disenfranchised populations. How dialogic learning methods might be applied across all grade levels and subject areas should provide plenty of fodder for dialogue.

Author

• Todd K. Lilly, Edgewood College