ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a professional development approach that involves embedding teacher inquiry in day-to-day practice within a context of whole-school development. The central focus for teachers is on the investigation and enhancement of classroom dialogue between teachers and pupils. The Teacher Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis (T-SEDA) focuses on key features of classroom dialogue, highlighting those that are known to be productive for learning and sharing them in an accessible format. While the self-audit and the reflective cycle for inquiry may be fairly familiar parts of practitioner action research, the T-SEDA was designed to be relevant to teachers in any phase of education with application in any curriculum area. Investment in teacher learning was essential in order to raise pupil outcomes and over the years has taken many different forms, including traditional professional development courses, coaching and mentoring and support from external consultants.
