Dialogue at teacher/student level

A teacher in a Danish school describes the function of dialogue as integral to learning:

Learning is good if it gets the student to reflect over the content of what he/she is learning. When they find out that they could also look at an issue in another way than they used to then the students have their everyday conception challenged. The most important part of teaching is the dialogue, where the teacher can question and challenge the knowledge they bring to the school. When I can focus on and put into words important aspects of the themes and the preconceptions with small groups of students, that is when important learning takes place.

Dialogue at teacher/teacher level

A Norwegian principal describes dialogue at the level of the teaching staff:

We understood the importance of communication in our weekly staff-meeting (Pedagogical Forum), that is to keep a focus on direction, adjusting and reflecting on practice. The Forum became an important arena to share, discuss and shape our pedagogy, and for sustaining leadership for learning. We have used this arena for action learning groups... We have exemplified and visualised our pedagogy and educational platform, so it is clearly communicated both for us and for those who come to visit our school.

     Dia logos: teachers planning for learning in a Greek school

The narrative

The third principle lays emphasis on dialogue, something more than discussion or debate. It is a search for meaning, making thinking visible and making learning explicit in teacher-student dialogue and in the dialogue in which teachers share their understanding and enhance their practice. Leadership for learning practice involves creating a dialogue about LfL in which:

• LfL practice is made explicit, discussable and transferable

• there is active collegial inquiry focusing on the link between learning and leadership

• coherence is achieved through the sharing of values, understandings and practices

• factors which inhibit and promote learning and leadership are examined and addressed

• the link between leadership and learning is a shared concern for everyone

• different perspectives are explored through networking with researchers and practitioners across national and cultural boundaries

This principle is exemplified in different ways in different forums within the school as these two examples from Denmark and Norway illustrate. In the Danish example the purpose is to encourage reflection on the part of students, as a prelude to making explicit and opening up different ideas and different ways of thinking. This is most likely to happen when there is, as in the example for Norway, a matching discourse at teacher level.