Is dialogic teaching sustainable? Portrait of a teacher three years after completing a teacher development programme

Abstract

This study deals with the question of whether a change in classroom discourse implemented through teacher professional development (TPD) is sustainable over time. I studied one teacher’s practices and thinking three years after completing a TPD programme focused on dialogic teaching. The data were collected through interviews with the teacher and video recordings of her lessons. The data showed that the teacher continued with dialogic teaching, but she appropriated and modified the concept of dialogic teaching to serve her own needs and preferences. The way the teacher overcame obstacles to sustaining the implemented change is discussed in the study.