Creation of Meaning and the Language of Possibility
The impact of dialogic pedagogical gatherings (DPGs) on teacher education is widely documented. I myself experienced those improvements as a teacher when I began participating more than 10 years ago in the Valencia Seminar On the Shoulder of Giants and when, for the first time, I read and discussed the great works of education.
I remember many of us commenting on how helpful it would have been to have DPGs during our university years, when we began our training as future teachers. Fortunately, this successful educational action has now expanded to many universities and is benefiting hundreds of future educators.
This semester we read Democratic Schools (Apple & Beane, 1997) in the course Organization and Management of Educational Centers. First-year teacher-training students admitted that they had never read and discussed any book (not even literature), and they approached the first gathering with some fear of not knowing how to contribute. However, because DLGs are based on the principles of dialogic learning, I was sure they would gradually realize that we all know how to express our ideas, thoughts, and feelings (we have cultural intelligence), and that doing so through egalitarian dialogue would give deep meaning to the content of the course.
Gathering after gathering, the creation of meaning increased, with contributions that were increasingly profound and full of the desire to transform education, to open schools to democratic participation, to create organizations that seek diverse voices because, without them, improvement is impossible. Participating in the DPG firsthand enabled them to truly believe that being part of a school’s leadership team is a precious opportunity to generate social impact through leadership projects full of scientific evidence, dreams, and hope. Projects that are shared and led with diverse members of the educational community, who have the strength to overcome any barrier that may arise.
Some of the last passages shared by participants reflect how, after the gatherings, the language of possibility grew in their thinking and their perspective, along with the excitement and hope that another kind of education is possible.
“‘Sharing time’ provided us with an opportunity to learn about different facets of people—what they did in their free time, what their families were like, and what they heard in the news. We valued this time and considered it an important part of our democratic community (…) we didn’t agree on everything, but we had decided that certain things were important to us” (p. 137)
“After some debate, one student said what we all felt: ‘…We weren’t a special group, but the situation made us special’” (p. 154)
“These stories remind us that the deeper meaning of democracy is formed not only in brilliant political rhetoric, but in the details of everyday life” (p. 158)
We combined these theoretical reading and discussion sessions with interviews with leadership teams from schools that are learning communities or that implement successful educational actions. This confirmed for the students that society can be transformed when leadership and educational projects are full of dreams of transformation and grounded in scientific evidence with social impact.
The DPGs made this semester a special one, allowing us to share dreams of social improvement that will endure if we keep them alive always.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
PhD in Education - Adjunct Professor at the University of Valencia.
For 23 years, she was a teacher of therapeutic pedagogy and primary education, and for 8 years, the director of CEIP L'Escolaica.