christopherhildreth

One of the big topics in education and learning is the concept of Dialogue Education. Jane Vella first proposed the concept in the early 80’s. It draws on a variety of adult learning theories and combines them into an integrated learning experience. The biggest difference is that teaching is typically done in a monologue format, this form is a dialogue. The dialogue focuses more on what the student does and less on what the teacher says.

The implications for this are staggering as we look at the current way in which most learning environments are designed. In the church setting there is a person talking (monologue) and a congregation listening. In the work world during a meeting, there is a person making a presentation (monologue) and a group listening. In most educational settings there is a teacher (monologue) and students listening.

Dialogue education is a form of Constructivism, in that it focuses on the argument that people construct knowledge and meaning from experiences, because of that, Dialogue Education can be a means for transformative learning. The big reason is that it gives ownership to the learner for his own learning.

I know that is lot to digest, but the implications in the church setting cannot be stressed enough. Because of this I’m beginning a series of Dialogues, called Dialogue4Change. At the onset we will discuss the theory and practice of Dialogue Education itself and what its meaning in our different environments:work, family, church.

If there are a majority of people in the Warner Robins area we will meet at Lifepoint Church approximately once a month. If the majority are from further places, I’ll do my best to facilitate an on-line discussion in the same time-frame.

To let me know if you are interested in becoming a part of this cutting edge discussion, email me at dialogue4change@gmail.com.  In the next few days I’ll be putting up a separate page that will go into more detail. This is going to be Great!

Explore posts in the same categories: Awareness, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, Life, People

This entry was posted on November 19, 2008 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Awareness, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, Life, People. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: conversation, dialogue education, jane vella

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.