Dialogue education

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Dialogue Education is a popular education approach to adult education first described by educator and entrepreneur Jane Vella in the 1980s. This approach to education is a proprietary commercial product licensed by Vermont-based company Global Learning Partners [1] that draws on various adult learning theories, including those of Paulo Freire, Kurt Lewin, Malcolm Knowles and Benjamin Bloom (Global Learning Partners, 2006b; Vella, 2004). It is a synthesis of these theories into principles and practices that can be applied in a concrete way to learning design and facilitation. Dialogue Education is a form of Constructivism and can be a means for Transformative learning, (Vella, 2004).

Contents

Dialogue Education shifts the focus of education from what the teacher says to what the learner does, from learner passivity to learners as active participants in the dialogue that leads to learning (Global Learning Partners, 2006c). A dialogue approach to education views learners as subjects in their own learning and honours central principles such as mutual respect and open communication (Vella, 2002). Learners are invited to actively engage with the content being learned rather than being dependent on the educator for learning. Ideas are presented to learners as open questions to be reflected on and integrated into the learner's own context (Vella, 2004). The intent is that this will result in more meaningful learning that affects behaviour.

History

In the Dialogue Education approach, the idea of dialogue is used in contrast to the monologue approach often seen in traditional adult education, whereby teachers present information to learners who receive information without engaging with it. This was labelled the "banking" approach to education by Paulo Freire in his 1970 work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. According to Freire, the traditional monologue approach to adult education views learners as empty vessels ready for teachers to deposit information into (Vella, 2004). Freire and others recognized a need for reform in adult education practices, particularly with respect to equity in the relationship between adult learners and teachers (Vella, 2004).

Influenced by these theorists, Vella began to develop a structured set of principles and practices to translate the theory into action and results. She began using Dialogue Education practices in her teaching in the 1970s and these were further developed into a systematic approach while completing her doctoral dissertation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At this point, she named her approach popular education after Freire's model (Global Learning Partners, 2006a,b; Vella, 2004).

The Dialogue Education approach became even more advanced as Vella created her own training company Jubilee Popular Education Centre, now called Global Learning Partners, in 1981. Through this organization, more than 3,500 learners from 60 countries have completed workshops about the dialogue approach to learning design and facilitation. The approach has also been used for conducting learning assessments, learning evaluations and designing and facilitating meetings (Global Learning Partners, 2006d).

The concepts of Dialogue Education are continually evolving as Vella, her partners and the learners of this approach gain greater understanding of how best to put adult learning theory into action for effective results.

Structures of Dialogue Education

The principles and practices of Dialogue Education represent a concrete way to integrate adult learning theory into the design and implementation of learning events (Global Learning Partners 2006c). While more than fifty of these have been noted (Vella 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004; Global Learning Partners, 2006c), the primary structure was laid out in her most recent publication and is laid out and slightly expanded upon below (Vella, 2007).

Key Principles

"Don't ever do what the learner can do; don't ever decide what the learner can decide." (Vella, 2002:16).

Structures

1. Learning Needs and Resources Assessment (LNRA) To discover the present knowledge and skills of the learners and help develop further goals.

2. The Seven Steps of Design - In designing learning activities, educators seek to answer in as much detail as possible the questions:

    1. Who - are the learners, the educators, other participants?
    2. Why - the situation that calls for the learning, especially in terms of why the learners want to be there.
    3. When - will the learning take place (timing & total length of time available)?
    4. Where - will learning take place (location, set up, etc.)?
    5. What - specific Content (Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes) will be covered to address the Why?
    6. What for - Describes the Achievement-Based Objectives (ABOs) for each element of Content
    7. How - the Process (learning tasks) through which learners interact with the What to meet each ABO (What For).
By answering these questions in detail and ensuring congruence throughout, a strong, accountable design can be prepared.

3. Learning Tasks (How?) - work by using active verbs to engage the learner and work at proficiency in knowledge, skills, and attitudes (both individuals and groups). This leads to the development of the four I's.

4. The principles and practices at every level:

5.Evaluation Indicators

(This framework of the structure came out of Vella, 2007, p. 2)

While none of these ideas are new to adult learning theory, the unique contribution of Dialogue Education is the highly structured system which has been devised to implement known adult learning theory in a concrete way (Global Learning Partners, 2006c). Adult learning theory is widely understood, however, it is used with much less frequency in practice. The Dialogue Education approach, because it offers well constructed, specific principles and practices, demands congruence between theory, design and implementation. Such congruence leads to improved learning and resulting behaviour change (Vella, 2004).

See also

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References

  1. "Our Approach". Global Learning Partners. Retrieved May 20, 2020.