Zoom In & Zoom Out! Authentic Dialogue In Remote Teaching?

Abstract

Literature indicates that authentic dialogue can play an essential role in the social and emotional development of young children. In the classroom settings, it enables the children to speak their minds on topics that are relevant to them in an intimate face to face conversation, without the fear of being judged through an imbalance of power by an authoritative figure, the teacher. Dialogue time is often deprived during the teaching process, most often due to an increasing demand for advancing academic skills, leaving children to focus on pleasing their teachers with the answers that are considered desirable rather than focusing on matters that are perceived as important to them. This theoretical paper introduces and discusses various definitions of dialogue dating back to Plato up to the 21st century description of classroom dialogue, known as dialogic pedagogy. Moreover, it addresses the manner in which the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic has changed teacher-child dialogue, the implications of these changes on young children and their parents. It aims to describe the complexities of conducting authentic dialogue with preschoolers in the virtual world via a computer screen and to offer recommendations based on the reviewed studies.