Dialogkompetens i skolans vardag - Publikationer - LTU - Luleå ...

- How do pupils describe their choice of the best listening environment in
school (Study I)?
- How can tools used in action research promote learning in relation to Vygotsky’s
concept of the zone of proximal development (Study II)?
- What kind of communication develops via the Internet when an improvement
group exchanges experiences in writing concerning classroom-based attempts
at change (Study III)?
The concept of dialogue is central in this thesis, which is based on two contexts.
One of these deals with the teacher as an actor in school improvement dialogues,
the other with hard-of-hearing pupils as actors in classroom dialogues. I have
drawn on sociocultural theories in order to understand what a dialogical attitude to
learning might imply. In the thesis, the concept of dialogue is used in Bakhtin’s
(1981) widened sense, that is, talk or text aiming at all individuals’ voices being
heard. Voices in the dialogue give rise to a large number of reactions, in which
relations, frictions and differences are seen as necessary ingredients. Letting pupils’
voices be heard is part of the basic values of schools, where the asymmetric
relationship of teachers and pupils must not become an obstacle to democratic
working methods. Inviting pupils to take part in dialogues in order to develop
their dialogical competence is to prepare them for active citizenship.
Learning dialogues in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 2001) require
incorporated scaffolding and a shared responsibility for knowledge development.
When scaffolding (Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976) is practised in the zone
of proximal development, there is a need for peers (or colleagues) who can be
critical friends (Handal, 1999).
The pupils’ learning environments
A regional school is run by a municipality, but offers pupils from other municipalities
to participate in classes for hard-of-hearing pupils. Otherwise the same
assignments and control documents apply as for other Swedish compulsory nineyear
schools (Roos & Fischbein, 2006). Most parents have chosen classes for
hard-of-hearings because the children need access to audio technical equipment,
acoustically sanitized premises, small classes and sign language as their second
language (Wennergren, 2006). The most common arrangement is for the pupils to
have sign language teaching a couple of times per week. Pupils who have a command
of both languages have the advantage of not having to choose but can take
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