Luisa, Transforming Personal Visions to Ensure Better Education for All Children

Abstract

The biography of Luisa, a teacher participating in the dialogic pedagogical gatherings of Valencia, allows us to analyze those elements associated with these Dialogic Gatherings (DGs) that made it possible to radically transform Luisa’s feelings and thoughts, becoming a protagonist in the socio-educational movement in Valencia. This biographical study under a communicative approach shows how the gatherings led Luisa to initiate a process of transformation, not only becoming a happier and freer person, but also to dream of utopias of social creation. In this communicative biography, the key elements that enable teachers such as Luisa to become capable of leading educational movements based on validity claims, equality, and commitment to high quality education for all children are analyzed.

On the Shoulders of Giants: Benefits of Participating in a Dialogic Professional Development Program for In-Service Teachers

“…This new movement has been defined as dialogic teacher education (Roca et al, 2015), in which teachers are exposed to scientific reasoning regarding teaching, learning, and educational actions that have previously been implemented and that have achieved relevant learning outcomes. In dialogic teacher education, changes arise when teachers' professional development is based on scientific evidence and there is an acknowledgment that teachers and students' families have the right to obtain the best and latest international knowledge about learning and educational research (Garcia-Carrion et al, 2017).…”

“…Borko (2004) also points out the importance of the context for teacher learning. Thus, the educational action that demonstrably produces better results in several different contexts is the so-called dialogic teacher training (Roca et al, 2015).…”

“…This article explores a specific bottom-up teachers' movement, based on recovering the meaning of teacher training through dialogic pedagogical gatherings (seminars) (Roca et al, 2015). These seminars are based on reading and discussing scientific research on educational approaches that successfully improve student outcomes.…”

Dialogue With Educators to Assess the Impact of Dialogic Teacher Training for a Zero-Violence Climate in a Nursery School

“…One of the most common ways of implementing DTT is by carrying out dialogic pedagogical gatherings (DPGs), also known as “Seminars on the Shoulders of Giants” (Campos et al, 2015). In DPGs, teachers, often together with families and other educational agents, meet periodically to read and debate the world’s best scientific foundations and theories in the field of pedagogy and education.…”

“…The texts read in DPGs range from multidisciplinary books written by the best authors in the field of educational science (e.g., Lev Vygotsky or Paulo Freire) to articles published in the highest-ranked scientific journals, publications by the best universities and research centers worldwide, and publications that summarize the findings of the best research projects in the field of education. Through the egalitarian dialogue established in the DPGs around the scientific evidence, the teachers and other agents involved in the encounters enrich their educational practices after learning and agreeing on what practices are most efficient for overcoming the situations that they face in their schools (Campos et al, 2015).…”