A dialogic and democratic journey throughout editing a (very) special journal issue

Abstract

This introductory article to the special issue “Dialogic pedagogy and democratic education” aims to reflect upon the process of putting this special issue together and to pinpoint some of the most relevant aspects of the articles collected within the issue. Therefore, reverberating one of the editors’ perspectives, not only is this paper meant to introduce the DPJ readers to the texts compiled in the volume, as well as it is dedicated to giving you, dear reader, a glimpse of the journey taken by the editors and authors. It also tries and situates the issue in its social and historic chronotope to justify the ever-so-present appeal to reinforce, advocate and share theoretical discussions as well as practical accounts which focus on dialogic and democratic educational efforts – both distant and more recent events – that took place in different contexts, and different parts in the world. It's claimed that the several accounts and discussions highlighted in the papers in this special issue provide DPJ readers with both hints and strong, factual proposals which might foster new ideas and further actions by those who want to consider dialogic/democratic education either as an end or/and as an act of/for social transformation.

Dialogic pedagogy in democratically run schools: Introduction

“…As my dear co-editor, Eliane Fernandes Azzari, said in her introduction (Azzari, 2023), we might have had particular reasons for focusing on one or another way of examining dialogic pedagogy in democratic education and for creating a certain order among the articles in this Issue. But you, dear reader, may find other purposes and reasons to read them, searching for concepts and ideas of your own and finding your own way through the issue.…”