Teachers are trained in strategies that enable pupils to reason, discuss, question, argue and explain rather than merely respond, in order to develop their higher-order thinking and communication skills. The programme was developed by Robin Alexander (who first coined the term ‘dialogic teaching’) and trialled by the EEF.
The programme that was trialled lasted for 20 weeks and used teacher training, in-school mentoring, video and text resources to enhance Year 5 teachers’ dialogic teaching practice, and their ability to reflect on that practice, across English, maths and science lessons.
Evidence summarised in the Teaching and Learning Toolkit shows that good quality classroom talk can have a positive impact on pupil outcomes.
The EEF trialled this specific programme at efficacy level, which means it was tested under best possible conditions. The efficacy trial found consistent, positive effects in English, science and maths for all children in Year 5.
Children in the intervention schools made two additional months’ progress in English and science, and one additional month’s progress in maths, compared to children in the control schools, on average.
The three padlock security rating means we are moderately confident that this difference was due to the intervention and not to other factors.
The result was similar when looking only at children eligible for free school meals, though the smaller number of FSM pupils in the trial may limit the security of this result. The consistent results across subjects, and the lack of any subject-specific content in the training, suggest that the approach improves children’s generic understanding, thinking and learning across the curriculum. These positive results have led the EEF to designate Dialogic Teaching as a Promising Programme.
- This was an efficacy trial, that took place in 76 schools. The schools were located in Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham.
- 78% of the schools involved were Ofsted-rated Good or Outstanding. This is slightly lower than national average.
- Around 35% of the pupils in the schools had been eligible for free schools meals at some point (EverFSM). This is higher than national average.
- Around 50% of the pupils in the schools had English as a second language (much higher than the national average) and 16% of pupils had SEND support (slightly higher than the national average).
In the version trialled, the class teacher for each class delivering the intervention attended three days of training. To support them in planning and reviewing their talk-focused activities, schools nominated teacher mentors. The mentoring relationship with teachers was one of peers, where professional learning is mutual and entails open and non-judgemental discussion. The mentor attended four days of training, and the head teacher attended 1one day. Each teacher had a fortnightly session with the mentor for two terms, lasting between 45 and 90 minutes and focusing on extracts from their lesson video recordings and using prompts from the handbook for review, reflection and onward planning. This strategy was judged by schools to be a critical element of the programme.
The principles of dialogic teaching were intended to inform lesson delivery across the curriculum, with a particular focus on English, maths, and science. Schools were provided with video equipment and training to record lessons for review and reflection. The approach requires significant changes in interactive practice across the curriculum, though not in curriculum content. Most participating teachers felt that it would take longer than two terms to fully embed a dialogic teaching approach in their classrooms.
The intervention was highly regarded by headteachers, mentors, and teachers, who believed that dialogic teaching had positive effects on pupils’ confidence and engagement and on their ability to think, reason and understand, and to communicate about their learning.
The total cost to deliver the programme as trialled to two classes was £3,100 plus the cost of teacher cover for the training and mentoring sessions. The per-pupil cost is low at £52 per year, assuming delivery to two classes of 30 pupils.
The programme trialled by EEF included teacher training and review led by the programme’s originator and developer, Robin Alexander. The version trialled by EEF is not available to schools in that personalised form, but resources based closely upon it are available.
Robin Alexander’s A Dialogic Teaching Companion (Routledge 2020) sets out the dialogic teaching approach, together with the research evidence that supports it. It includes both the pedagogical framework and its strategies for using high-quality classroom talk to improve pupils’ engagement, learning and attainment, and a CPD strategy that is school-led without the need for external support. The latter retains the EEF project’s core features of cyclic development, teacher-teacher peer mentoring and video for self-evaluation. The pedagogical component includes details of the rationale, principles, repertoires and indicators of dialogic teaching, and covers the various kinds of talk needed for effective learning and teaching.
Schools interested in promoting dialogic teaching should be aware of the factors entailed in its effective implementation, particularly given the changes in interactive practice required in order to achieve the best impact. Schools may also wish to draw on the EEF’s guidance on implementation for broader principles on implementing new approaches across a school.