Peer Dialogue Research Articles

The Reflective Teacher Leader: An Action Research Model

This study presents four teacher reflections from action research projects ranging from kindergarten to adult school improvements. A teacher leadership matrix guided participants to connect teaching and learning theory to best practices by exploring uncharted territory within an iterative cycle of research and action. Teachers developed the philosophy of critical pedagogy through the reflective practice of journal writing and highlighting innovative teaching strategies. Finally, participants collaborated through peer dialogue and mentorship to accept change and ownership of the action process and student learning outcomes. Excerpts from participants’ reflective journals exemplify growth in teacher knowledge, confidence, personal empowerment, and enhanced professional leadership.

The Use of Discourse Completion Task (DCT) As Explicit Instruction On Indonesian Efl Learners' Production of Suggestion Acts

There are some activities that can be developed to bring up EFL learners' pragmatic awareness, such as contextualized language practice in given situations, constructed peer dialogues, and metapragmatic discussions. This task-based approach used in these activities can be either explicit or implicit instruction. One of them is a metapragmatic discussion prompted by Discourse Completion Task (DCT). In this paper, DCT, as an explicit pragmatic instruction, was practically investigated its effectiveness to facilitate EFL learners in developing their pragmatic competence. The results demonstrated from the analysis of RP2 prompted by the DCT support the fact that the explicit instruction results in some variations of linguistic forms that contribute to the development of subjects' pragmatic competence Key words : Discourse Completion Task (DCT), pragmatic competence, explicit pragmatic instruction, English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Small‐group, computer‐mediated argumentation in middle‐school classrooms: The effects of gender and different types of online teacher guidance

Research has shown the importance of careful teacher support during collaborative group work to promote productive discourse between students (Webb, 2009). However, this research has traditionally focused on face-to-face communication. The role of online teacher guidance of small-group computer-mediated discussions has received little attention, especially in secondary school classroom settings. Researchers of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), on the other hand, have traditionally focused on software-embedded features, such as scripts, to support a-synchronous peer dialogue, and less so on human guidance of synchronous group discussions. The main aim of the present in vivo, experimental study is to examine whether online teacher guidance can improve the quality of small-group synchronous discussions, and whether different types of guidance (epistemic or interaction guidance) affect these discussions differently, when compared to an unguided condition. The second goal of this study is to explore potential differences between all-female and all-male discussion groups. Eighty-two 9th graders (three classrooms) and six teachers from a rural high school in Israel. Whereas epistemic guidance only improved aspects of the argumentative quality of the discussion, interaction guidance only improved aspects of collaboration. Discussions of all-girls groups scored higher on aspects of collaboration and argumentative quality, compared to all-boys groups. The findings show that teacher guidance of synchronous, online discussions in classrooms is realizable and reasonably reaches its intended goals. Training should be focused on acquiring various guidance strategies to augment their beneficial effects. Furthermore, future research should pay more attention to potential gender differences in peer-to-peer argumentation.

Raising L2 listeners’ metacognitive awareness: a sociocultural theory perspective

Grounded in sociocultural theory, this article outlines a small-scale study exploring metacognitive awareness of second language (L2) listening. In each of five lessons, six pairs of advanced-level, adult, Japanese, EFL learners participated in a sequence of tasks involving the explicit verbalisation of strategies as part of a pedagogical cycle designed to stimulate their metacognitive awareness of the processes underlying L2 listening. Peer–peer dialogue was the central mechanism mediating the construction and co-construction of metacognitive awareness, and it also acted as the primary unit of analysis. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the pairs’ dialogue and corresponding diary entries illustrated that through, and in, dialogue as part of a structured pedagogical cycle, learners were afforded, and exploited, opportunities to enhance their metacognitive awareness of L2 listening.

Meeting Academic Standards through Peer Dialogue at Literacy Centers

Literacy centers are widely used by teachers seen as being effective in promoting literacy (Pressley, Rankin, & Yokoi, 2000); yet little research has been completed on how or why they are effective. Based on the social cultural constructivist theory posited by Vygotsky (1978), and research theories of Dyson (1993), the peer dialogue at the intersection of the unofficial social world of children and the official school world were analyzed to determine how peer dialogue supported literacy learning. Finding indicated that 47 of the 79 first-grade indicators from the Ohio Academic Content Standards for English Language Arts were utilized and strengthened through peer dialogue. This research can add to classroom practice as teachers see the impact of peer dialogue at literacy centers in supporting both literacy skills and literate behaviors.

Doing a group presentation: Negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL students of Commerce at a Canadian university

This study investigated the negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL (English as a second language) students of Commerce through their engagement in an academic presentation in a regular content course at a Canadian university. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, class observations, group discussions, emails, field notes, assignment drafts, and course materials. Data analysis showed that, in their preparatory activities outside the classroom, students employed peer—peer dialogues (group discussions and email exchanges) to clarify the task requirements, generate ideas, seek peer comments, and coach rehearsals. However, the academic presentation — especially open discussion part — was a great challenge to them, related to their underdeveloped English conversation ability, their unfamiliarity with participatory communication modes in the Canadian classroom, and their limited experience with group work. To compensate for their limited sense of conversational abilities, they chose to present a thorough case analysis rather than engage the class in discussion through their presentation as expected by the instructor. The students eventually understood the norms of academic presentation in this content course through their observation of the instructor’s reaction to their presentation in class and subsequent presentations of their classmates, and they realized that they should approach assignments according to the requirements. Implications drawn from these findings are discussed.

Wands in the hand! Or Potter’s powers

Some reflections on the history of archaeometry addressing more specifically gold metallurgy will help us understand recent trends and achievements in this broad field of research. Interdisciplinarity as a peer dialogue between scientists and historians has encountered some serious difficulties, which, however, are almost completely overcome today. The wide choice of non-destructive analytical techniques available is perhaps the main feature of actual research, and this also means that a great variety of problems can be dealt with and solved. Finally, in the present paper I propose some case studies selected from Project Au, the research programme I have been coordinating for more than ten years, and from other researchers and teams with whom I collaborate, in order to illustrate how we can conduct goldwork research. These include the two principal, and unique, Visigothic treasures, from Guarrazar and Torredonjimeno (Spain), and the Braganza brooch, a controversial Iberian fibula, masterpiece of ancient jewellery now on display at the British Museum and presented in Madrid during an exhibition in 2007.

Leadership Development: Insights from a Careers Perspective

This article reports on an exploratory empirical investigation into the resonance between two developmental processes to see if any insights into leadership development could be gained from using a careers lens. Career and leadership development both share contemporary shifts in emphasis: leadership from hero to distributed models ,and career from objective to subjective explorations of progress and success. Twenty-two participants on a leadership development program used a career card sort which was then processed with a peer partner to support personal meaning making . A constructivist-orientated content analysis of the resultant peer dialogues revealed four themes: challenge, ownership, sponsorship and work—life balance, which showed different aspects of the nexus between leadership and career. This nexus is characterized by a resonance in thesense of echoing that suggests that a careers lens used by peer partners provides additional insight into leadership and leadership development.

Teacher education

Teacher education

Using Online Peer Dialogue Journaling to Promote Reflection in Elementary Preservice Teachers

This case study investigates the effectiveness of online peer dialogue journaling. The authors developed this learning strategy for elementary preservice teachers to reflect on their tutoring experiences and to provide support to their journal partners using an Internet discussion forum. The participants were asked to fill in two questionnaires, before and after they participated in writing online peer dialogue journals. The journal entries posted by the participants were also collected. The findings suggest that most participants responded favorably to this strategy. It facilitates technology integration, promotes interactive learning, and supports reflective practices in the dialogic form. The authors also raise several issues that need to be further addressed by teacher educators.

EXPERIENCES OF WORKPLACE BULLYING IN A RURAL AREA

Employed people spend most of their waking hours in workplaces, but sometimes workplaces are made unbearable by bullying. This study examined how 21 people experienced workplace bullying in a rural and small city context and explored strategies for stopping workplace abuse. The research method of the learning circle was used because of its potential to reduce the isolation typically experienced by targets of workplace bullying, and its potential for peer dialogue and learning. This paper focuses on signs and experiences of workplace bullying, a phenomenon which produces both physical and emotional symptoms and often requires counseling.

Creating Communities of Learners: The Interaction of Shared Leadership, Shared Vision, and Supportive Conditions

This study examines the preliminary results of a 5-year national study on creating communities of learners, provides findings from teachers and principals at 20 schools, analyzes characteristics of highand low-readiness schools, and discusses the interaction of leadership, vision, values, and the conditions required for professional learning communities (PLCs.) Characteristics of professional learning communities include shared authority and power, a united focus on student learning, collective learning by staff, supportive institutions, and the sharing of personal instructional practices. Effective leadership from the entire school community is needed to implement shared visions and values, and this requires developing the personal capacities of staff, and providing for adequate times and settings for peer dialogue and departmental communication. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory project, Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement, targets the creation of PLCs with co-developers in the Southeast, Midwest, and Northwest regions of the U.S. The preliminary data clearly suggest schools that have successfully integrated shared leadership, shared vision, and a supportive school culture are much better positioned to create professional learning communities than the less change-ready schools, which lacked similar markers of progress. Further research may reveal particular practices that facilitate integration in these three critical areas. (Contains 15 references.)(TEJ) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Creating Communities of Learners: The Interaction of Shared Leadership, Shared Vision, and Supportive Conditions Jane B. Huffman University of North Texas College of Education P.O. Box 311337 Denton, Texas 76203 940 565-2832 huffman@unt.edu Kristine A. Hipp Cardinal Stritch University College of Education 6801 North Yates Road Milwaukee, WI 53217 414/410-4346 khipp@acs.stritch.edu

Contextual influence on the language production of children with speech/language impairment.

To investigate the possible contextual variability of language and interaction, data from 10 children with speech/language impairment and three different types of conversational partners (a parent, a peer and a clinician) were collected. The dialogues were analyzed with respect to the characteristics of the dialogues as whole, to the dominance and the productivity of the three types of conversational partners, and to the productivity, fluency and grammatical structure of the language production of the children with speech/language impairment. Productivity was measured as mean length of utterance (MLU) in words, number of utterances, number of different words and proportion of complete and intelligible utterances. Fluency was measured as the proportion of utterances containing a maze. Grammatical structure was analysed with respect to the use of grammatical morphemes, word order patterns, the occurrence of expansions and the complexity of verb forms. Significant differences, in particular between child-child and adult-child dialogues were found. The adult-child dialogues were asymmetrical, where the adults dominated through asking many questions and talking much. The peer dialogues were more dynamic and equal. In these dialogues the children with speech/language impairment took a more active role as a conversational partner. The children produced more utterances and different words with the adult partners, but variables related to fluency and grammatical structure did not vary as a function of the conversational partner. The results imply that children with speech/language impairment practise different aspects of their communicative ability with different types of conversational partners. In particular, it is important to provide them with opportunities to interact with peers, in order for them to develop their skills as independent conversational partners.

Creating a space where teachers can locate their voices and develop their pedagogical awareness

The claim is made here that we need to prepare teachers who can locate their voices in teaching situations, recognize their relationship with other voices in those situations, and reflect on their pedagogical intentions. In a teacher education course, stories written about practicum experiences offered students an opportunity to reflect on the location of their voice in classroom situations and to discuss with peers different classroom situations and possibilities for teaching and learning. This study examines more closely the reflections of two of the students with seemingly distinct orientations to learning to teach. Their practicum stories and reflective essays were analyzed for positioning of voice as described by Belenky et al. (1986). The two students located their voices in distinct ways, and also expressed growing awareness of classroom dynamics and the value of peer dialogue in broadening and deepening their understandings of teaching and learning.

Encouraging peer dialogue in the geography classroom: peer editing to improve student writing

Abstract This paper describes the first author's experiments with improving students’ writing in the geography classroom using peer editing exercises to encourage peer dialogue. The ‘Editing Guides’ presented here were developed by the authors for the geography classroom and have been used by the first author in all of her systematic upper level geography courses. The theory of audience‐centred communication is presented as a rationale for using the editing guides and a simple plan for integrating writing instruction into the geography class is presented. The inclusion of peer editing assignments in the course curriculum increased peer dialogue and resulted in improved student writing.

LEARNING WITHIN TEACHING: AN EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS LEARNING IN READING RECOVERY

This author explores teacher change within a year's professional development course in Reading Recovery. Through examples of conversations during in‐service sessions, colleague visits, and peer collaboration, the roles of practical innovation and peer dialogue in the development of theoretical constructs are explored. In particular, one class of teacher leaders (N = 17) was assessed to examine the changes that occurred in their orientations to the teaching of reading in a year's Reading Recovery professional development course. There were significant changes in the teachers’ orientations to reading, moving from a skills orientation toward a whole‐language orientation. Group reflection, learning through teaching, skilled observation, teacher decision making, and coaching were characteristics of the staff development program that emerged as having a high relationship to teacher change.

Stance and intertextuality in written discourse

Previous theory of social aspects of intertextual meanings has not fully examined the role of cultural meanings inherent in writers' or readers' ideological stances. The purpose of this study of intertextuality in teachers' peer dialogue journal exchanges was to determine how intertextual meanings are constituted by partners' cultural attitudes or stance that link disparate aspects of journals. It also examined the degree to which teachers were willing to explore ambivalences associated with their stance. And, it examined the influence of teachers' social relationships on their willingness to challenge each other's ideas and opinions. Results of the analysis of two pairs of teachers exchanging entries in a composition methods course indicated that each pair explored intertextual meanings in terms of a particular stance. Two female teachers explored the relationships between journal writing, gender differences, and their own personal experiences in terms of a feminist stance. Two male teachers examined the relationships between student behavior, school rules, and their own classroom behavior in terms of their stance towards teaching. In both cases, having developed a strong social relationship through their exchanges, teachers were willing to challenge each other and to explore ambivalences associated with their stances.

Teaching a Course in Design and Evaluation in Curriculum Specialties: Context for Peer Dialogue Communities

I found that my partner could see profoundly different meanings in my statements from what I had intended! (Do I question my writing ability or praise our different ways of looking at things?) For me, the dialogue journal has been therapeutic. Sometimes, class discussions move so quickly that I have to abandon an idea which interests me to keep up with the talk. With a dialogue journal, I can follow through on an idea, work out the knots and get some feedback. Some ideas which might never have been thoroughly examined and/ or developed are allowed to grow.

Moral Development as a Curriculum Emphasis in American Protestant Theological Education

Abstract The study was an exploratory investigation of the contribution that graduate seminary curriculum (broadly conceived) makes to the moral development of Protestant ministerial students, as perceived by faculty. Personal interviews were conducted with 24 faculty members from six midwestern Protestant denominational graduate schools of theology. Clusters of faculty responses identified five factors which influence students’ moral development: 1. challenging and diverse off‐campus field and work experiences; 2. personal example of faculty and close faculty‐student relationships; 3. sustaining a growing, devotional relationship with God through chapel attendance, prayer and Bible study; 4. stimulating peer dialogue and structured group experiences; and, 5. exposure to or discussion of moral issues. As identified by the faculty, factors which may hinder students’ moral development relate to: (a) trappings of an academic, institutional setting and (b) faculty assumptions about and limited interaction wit...

Relational Processes in Adolescent and Adult Dialogues: Assessing the Intersubjective Context of Conversation

Research on the influence of dialogue on cognitive and moral development has typically evaluated peers’ efforts to achieve a consensus given initially conflicting viewpoints. Focusing solely on this conflict-consensus model may, however, obscure differences in relational processes. An investigation of relational processes evident in the transactive statements of adult and adolescent, same-sex, peer dialogues is described. Group differences in relational transact patterns were found: Alter-focused, noncompetitive transacts were most prevalent in group 1 dyads; alter-focused, competitive and ego-focused, competitive transacts characterized group 2; and alter-focused, noncompetitive and competitive transacts predominated in group 3. All group 1 dyads were female, all group 2 were male, and group 3 comprised both male and female dyads. Implications for assessing diversity in the relational processes of peer dialogues are discussed.