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Dialogue can only help children's development

January 11, 2017
A central focus of a Peachtown education is fostering a love of learning characterized by curiosity, research and reflection. When a student follows up an explanation of why cold air is denser than warm by asking why it is that ice expands when it freezes, it makes my day. That child has listened carefully, considered the possibilities, identified an exception and posed an inciteful question — all in a moment’s reflection.
As I have often repeated, dialogue is at the heart of learning. A two-way conversation, or better yet a group conversation, takes us in new directions and leads to unexpected places. Classroom dialogue is a conversation among equals. In an effective classroom, the teacher engages students by suspending the differences in their age and education, and inviting students to be full participants in an “adult” conversation.
Peachtown classes are discussion-based. Children are free and full participants in their learning. Questioning, interjecting and responding to complicated ideas through discourse is essential to liberal education. No technology, standardized test, or reading comprehension passage can accomplish what stimulating and challenging human interaction can.
From birth, the more babies and toddlers are spoken to by adults using complex vocabulary and syntax, the better their language development. The improved outcomes for these children are noted as early as 18 months of age, and the advantages extend well into their school years (Sample, The Guardian). Teaching and parenting should be rich in language. While children may need explanations and examples, we should never talk down to children or underestimate what they can glean from adult conversation.
An interesting corollary is revealed in the results of a recent study in England. Over 2,000 children in 48 schools spent just 40 minutes each week in philosophical discussions on topics like justice, knowledge and friendship — a curriculum based upon a program designed by Matthew Lippman in the 1970s, which has been used in schools around the world. The focus of the U.K. program was on sharing thoughts through discussion and learning new ways of debating and expressing ideas with logic and coherence.
Not surprising to me, students who participated in the study showed significant improvements in math and reading scores, as well as in confidence and the ability to express themselves. The benefits students experienced continued well after the study ended (Anderson, Quartz Media). Exercising the mind with new ideas, dialogue and reflection makes us better thinkers.
Stanford psychologist Professor Anne Fernald summed it up: “You need to start talking to them from day one. You are building a mind that can conceptualize, that can think about the past and the future.” These days, we certainly could use more keen and creative minds to face the problems of our future. A little more philosophy and a little less conformity is a good place to start.
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