ABSTRACT
Our main aim in this book is to explain how classroom dialogue contributes to children’s intellectual development and their educational attainment. To do so, we will make use of the results of research we and our colleagues have carried out in schools over the last 16 or so years, as well as the work of many other researchers. Examples drawn from interactions in classrooms will illustrate our discussion of how children develop as thinkers, problem-solvers and effective members of collective endeavours, and of how teachers contribute to that development. But we will do more than make a case for the importance of dialogue as the prime tool for helping children achieve an education from their school experience. We will also describe how talk in classrooms can be analysed in terms of its functions and quality, making clear the implications of this analysis for the practice of teaching and learning. What is now known about the psychological functions of dialogue is not only relevant to the academic study of cognitive development and learning: it is also of practical value to people such as teachers and parents who are concerned with ensuring that children are offered the best educational opportunities. Our hope is that what we have written here will inform practical action.
