Fostering Educators’ Criticality and Advocacy for Multilingual Students Through Dialogic Online Discussions

• In Event: Criticality, Dialogism, and Advocacy in Online Teacher Education: Exploring Avenues and Intersections Toward Equitable Futures

Abstract

How can online discussion prompts invoke criticality around advocacy toward multilingual learners and how might dialogism fosters critical stances in discussions within a Teaching English as a Second Language certification program? Using dialogic discourse analysis and Hawkins & Norton’s three elements of criticality framework, we analyzed asynchronous online discussions from 89 teacher candidates across a year-long online program, applying codes for critical awareness, critical self-reflection, and critical pedagogical relations. Dialogic analysis demonstrated predominance of unidirectional voicing with regular back-and-forth dialogue but univocal dialogism where candidates rarely posted dissonant narratives, and criticality decreased over discussion levels. This work contributes to understanding how discussion prompt design and dialogic potential shape critically reflective discussions, with implications for designing online discussions.

Authors

• Sora Suh, Fairleigh Dickinson University

• Catherine Michener, Rowan University