ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part examines the impact of students’ experiences outside of schools on teaching and learning within schools. It considers cultures of schooling and the ways in which power operates to silence some voices whilst privileging others. The part shows how conversational analysis can support the study of dialogue through analysis of features such as silence, overlaps and the tone/loudness of utterances. It argues that a dialogic theory of ethics and agency can support responsible leadership among students and facilitate relationships of care amongst learners. The part investigates the ways in which relationships of care can emerge when teachers focus on ethics and agency in mixed-age, rather than single-age, form groups. It also examines the aim of dialogue in collaborative educational practices, proposing M. M. Bakhtin’s notion of ‘internally persuasive discourse’ as an alternative aim to the more established idea of ‘convergence’.
