› Responding to children’ s verbal and nonverbal language, and validating their thoughts and feelings in a neutral and nonjudgmental manner
› Modeling and encouraging strategies that extend conversations for children, including expectant pauses, gestures, open-ended questions, slow pacing, and comments that cue turn taking
› Creating time and space for shared thinking, where all children can initiate and share ideas( García-Carrión & Villardón-Gallego 2016).
Dialogic teaching embraces learning as a sociocultural process( Vygotsky 1978) and uses language as a tool to help children explore their surroundings. It promotes children’ s thinking and skills through playful experiences that are connected to their contexts. Children are actively engaged through asking questions, telling stories, and interacting with peers, adults, and their surroundings.
Using Dialogic Teaching to Further E-STEM Learning
Such interactions are fundamental to climate change education( Arya & Parker 2015; Hejl & Qvortrup 2024). Children notice the Earth’ s fragility primarily through playing in outdoor spaces and developing connections and a sense of belonging with local play spaces( Myrstad et al. 2021). They can observe and learn that climate change is more than planetary warming: It affects weather, food, water, air, health, homes, plants, and animals( NASA, n. d.).
Caring and respectful adult-child interactions support children’ s engagement with these topics( Aghayeeabianeh & Talebi 2020), including environmental affordances, or what children can do with or to elements in their environment. For example, trees may be climb-able, rocks throw-able, leaves tear-able, and so on( Heft 1988). By observing children’ s relationships with an outdoor environment, teachers can learn how children function in and respond to that space. Teachers can then use dialogic teaching to support children’ s connections to and care for the environment.
For example, children noticed when buds began to open in spring and how bees were attracted to plants. Their teacher engaged them in dialogue using vocabulary words related to plant biology and pollination.
Afterward, while playing outside, a child planted a picked flower in the soil and explained to a friend how the bees were“ pollening” the plants( Carr et al. 2018).
Dialogic teaching is integral to E-STEM learning because it facilitates children’ s construction of knowledge and skills through questions and answers with their peers and teachers( García-Carrión et al. 2020). It is effective in settings where children have agency to problem solve with peers, collaborate, and explore affordances in nature( Kochanowski & Carr 2014). Teachers can observe and record children’ s interests and listen to their conversations. This can inform how educators pose questions or possibilities related to E-STEM concepts and skills. Teachers can also identify content they themselves need to learn more about. Indeed, teachers and children often develop new understandings of the environment and its flora and fauna together.
Dialogic Discourse Can Address Children’ s Thoughts About Climate Change
Dialogic discourse can help address children’ s questions and concerns about climate changes they observe by validating their feelings and offering ways to respond( Rosen 2019), which, in turn, can help inspire hope and increase resilience( Malboeuf-Hurtubise et al. 2024). For example, if a child becomes fearful of being kept indoors due to a heat advisory, a teacher might invite the child to talk about their feelings, carefully attend to the child’ s message, and give nonjudgmental feedback. Together they can discuss what to do when it is too hot to go outside, such as monitoring weather patterns, staying hydrated, wearing hats, and playing in the shade.
Dialogic discourse about E-STEM concepts can be integrated whenever possible. Dedicated time to experience nature in local communities, whether urban, suburban, or rural, regularly provides children with meaningful opportunities to engage with nature and reflect on their observations. Teachers can encourage children to express and sort out their thoughts about climate change and other phenomena through these direct connections. Such experiences are conducive to enhanced cognitive function, stress relief, well-being, and deeper content learning( Cui & Teo 2021; Vella-Brodrick & Gilowska 2022).
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