To speak or remain silent: an examination of two English teachers’ styles of leading whole-class discussion

ABSTRACT

For some teachers, the call for more dialogic instruction and less monologic instruction has led to the belief that student-led discussions require complete teacher silence. That leads to questions about whether there is enough scaffolding for the students when the teacher does not speak; on the other hand, a teacher-centred classroom invokes the same questions. In this study, we examined whole-class discussions led by two high school English teachers. We found that student-led dialogues do not automatically result in greater disciplinary depth and that teacher-engagement does not necessarily foster student passivity. Rather than thinking about discussions on either extreme, we advocate a balanced approach in which all voices in the classroom are valued.

KEYWORDS:

• Monologic
• dialogic
• whole-class discussions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Todd Reynolds

Todd Reynolds is an Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education at the University of Wyoming. He taught secondary English for 10 years, and currently teaches methods classes. His focus is on dialogic instruction and disciplinary literacy.

Bethany Townsend

Bethany Townsend is a doctoral candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Wyoming.  Her interests include counselor-trainee personal and professional development.