Instructional Conversations: Designing Dialogue to Deepen Learning

Abstract

Instructional conversations lie at the heart of teaching and learning. Well designed instructional conversations stimulate deep thinking, promote critical reflection and metacognition, and help participants create meaning and leverage ideas to generate something new. This chapter defines instructional conversations and presents a taxonomy of five types, ranging from dialectic conversations to reflective conversations. Illustrations of each type of conversation are provided, along with a discussion of their function and ways to increase their effectiveness. The chapter ends with a set of suggestions for improving professional practice, and particularly for instructors who wish to become more intentional about reaching learning goals.