Dialogic teaching of controversial public issues in a Chinese middle school

Teaching controversial public issues is essential in preparing students for effective citizenship, with discussion and debate being widely held as the most appropriate pedagogical approach. Employing a design-based research approach, our research team collaborated with a teacher and used a popular Chinese movie, Dying to Survive, to promote dialogic teaching of controversial public issues in a Chinese 7th grade Morality and Law class. Discourse analysis showed that a large proportion of teacher's and students' utterances were dialogic, and that the teacher transitioned between monologic, authoritative teaching and dialogic teaching to ensure student understanding and promote discussion. Students' argumentative discourse was more common during dialogic interactions than monologic interactions dominated by teacher-centered lectures or recitations. We discuss the significance of our study in promoting deliberative discourse surrounding controversial issues to enhance civic skills and values in Chinese middle school students. We also summarize lessons learned and propose suggestions for future interventions.