Explaining the dialogic processes of teaching and learning: The value and potential of sociocultural theory

Preschoolers’ Causal Reasoning During Shared Picture Book Storytelling: A Cross-Case Comparison Descriptive Study

“…The role of the adult in this study was to create conditions for active, open, and equitable group discourse, rather than to direct or control it-an approach shown to facilitate learning in peer groups (Mercer & Howe, 2012). If future research confirms that these conditions are effective for preschoolers, this would have pedagogical implications.…”

“…Under appropriate conditions, peer interaction during learning tasks can stimulate children to think aloud, share knowledge, explore and extend ideas, clarify or defend their own points of view, challenge others' ideas, and provide alternative hypotheses or interpretations (Howe & Mercer, 2010;Mercer & Howe, 2012). These types of interaction typify what is known as "exploratory talk."…”

“…These types of interaction typify what is known as "exploratory talk." Importantly, appropriate conditions for facilitating this kind of talk include the absence of directive control by the teacher, whose role instead focuses on enabling participants to engage openly and equitably with each other's views (Mercer & Howe, 2012). While exploratory talk is considered a desirable and effective form of peer interaction, commonly observed types of interaction in primary school classrooms are less effective.…”

“…These include the use of open questions to explore children's ideas, allowing children plenty of time to express what they are thinking, encouraging them to clarify and justify their views, and modeling these kinds of interactions so that children can learn by example (Mercer & Howe, 2012).…”

Building bridges: the use of reflective oral diaries as a qualitative research tool

“…The peer group context is an ideal forum for knowledge construction but research has found that it is under exploited by teachers and productive talk rarely occurs (Littleton andMercer 2013, Mercer andHowe 2012). There have been calls for further studies which explore how and when talk flourishes (Wolfe and Alexander 2008) and also the challenges faced by practicing teachers in using dialogic pedagogies during day to day classroom life (Reznitskaya et al 2009, Howe 2014.…”