ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part provides a definition of dialogue as the holding together of different incommensurate perspectives in the tension of proximity around a gap of difference and utilizes this definition to build a general dialogic theory of education as induction into dialogue. It provides a dialogic theory of education but using concepts drawn more directly from Bakhtin and the Bakhtin circle. The part explores the themes of creativity, consciousness, different languaged-ness and many-voicedness. It discusses the need for research to unpack some of the tensions and dilemmas that exist within dialogic education and proposes the provocative idea of a post-humanist dialogism. The part offers a valuable introduction to H. J. Hermans’ dialogic-self theory and argues for the importance of the development of a dialogic educational self.
