Dialogic Teaching Strategy as a New International Teacher

By Razan Ghazzawi, WGSS

Before moving to Oregon and joining OSU, my teaching strategies were shaped by my training at the UK Higher Education and the University of Sussex. There, teaching usually consists of a lecture followed by a seminar. In the US, the teaching system varies. Some courses could include lectures, while others are completely based on seminars. In my department and many across OSU and the US, teaching is divided into two classes a week (either on Tuesdays & Thursdays or on Mondays & Wednesdays). Mine take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m still adapting to this new style of teaching; where I have two classes a week with no lecture. This means seminars are not connected to a theoretical base (lecture) but are independent and original on their own. This model challenged my teaching strategies; how to teach two classes a week?

I started asking around and colleagues about how they develop their teaching strategies for two classes a week. I received interesting answers. Some colleagues teach hybrid classes (both in-person and remotely), and others incorporate field visits and guest speakers into their classes. Some divide their class plans into theoretical and discussion-based seminars, while others use chalkboards for games and quizzes to motivate students. While the answers varied, they all seem to agree on one teaching strategy everyone seem to be enjoying and employing casually in their classrooms; let students lead the conversation and shape the classroom itself, see what might it looks like.

This really resonates with me and perhaps experienced it recently in my classroom, where students led the conversation and brought excellent examples and insights into the readings and the week’s topic. This opened my eyes to what I believe can be framed as dialogic teaching strategies. Thinking about Malcolm James’s (2014) work on dialogic memory, I refer to dialogic teaching strategy to classroom dialogue and exchange of leadership and agency from the teacher to students. When many students start sharing responses, discussion points, reflections, stories, examples, this all provide paths to take a totally different teaching direction, where the examples picked by students are the center of the class plan. So the first teaching strategy I’ve learned so far about how to teach two classes a week is a dialogic one; letting students lead the conversation, with my role of being a facilitator towards the learning outcomes and key messages of the readings.

We were five in class, four students and myself, out of ten students in total, but it was perhaps the best class I ever had. I reflected on why this was the case, and I realized it was just because students were engaging more and giving more examples from their lived experiences. This was when I realized that I may have been over-preparing, or designing theoretical-based questions, and assigning classic assessments. The dialogic teaching strategy allows students to take control of the classroom discussion and participate in class assignment design. For example, since that class, I will now assign an art project as their final assignment, instead of a final essay. I found this very fun and creative way of learning. Also a good motivation for students’ wellness and livelihood. I am now talking to colleagues to learn how to grade them.

Another cool skill I’m learning as a new international teacher at OSU.

References

James, M. (2014). Whiteness and loss in outer East London: tracing the collective memories of diaspora space. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(4), 652-667.

Razan Ghazzawi is a teacher and writer with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at OSU. Their research interests include checkpoints, prisons, and political subjectivities.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of guest posts about teaching strategies by members of the Fall ’23 Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community facilitated by CTL and UIT-Academic Technologies. The opinions expressed in guest posts are solely those of the authors.