Dialogic teaching of controversial issues: discursive moves to enact two-sided discussions

Dialogic teaching–in which teachers and students address controversial issues–has become increasingly common in school education to promote civic participation in deliberative democracy. This study addresses this question: when leading whole-class discussions on controversial issues, what discursive moves could teachers adopt to enact two-sided discussions that address conflicting perspectives? The present study analyzed data from an intervention study promoting dialogic teaching of controversial issues in the Morality and Law subject in fourth-grade (9- to 10-year-olds) elementary classrooms in China. We identified and analyzed episodes from transcripts of video-recorded classroom interactions in which the teachers employed a variety of discursive moves to encourage students to consider, negotiate, and debate opposing positions. Our analyses revealed that the teachers did not directly instruct students to consider opposing perspectives but guided their exchange of multiple perspectives. The teachers also partnered with students in the knowledge construction process by directly questioning, countering, or critiquing students’ arguments. Implications for encouraging teachers’ spontaneity and improvisation during dialogic teaching, as well as for using challenging, controversial topics to promote two-sided whole-class discussions, are addressed.