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Conference Program

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

B.06. Dialogic Teaching in Education: Practices, Languages, and Conditions for Democratic Learning (1/2)
Location: Scienze Politiche (CU002): Sala Lauree

Convenor(s): Serena Goracci (Indire, Italy); Luisa Zecca (University of Milano Bicocca, Italy); Laura Parigi (Indire, Italy); Loredana Camizzi (Indire, Italy)

Presentation 4

Voices in the Lab: Reimagining the Italian EFL Classroom through Dialogic Inquiry and Democratic Practice

Alexandra Covaci^1,2

1: University of Salento, Italy; 2: University of Glasgow

This panel contribution addresses the intersection of dialogic teaching and democratic education within the specific context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction in Italian secondary and higher education. While the Italian "Indicazioni Nazionali" increasingly emphasize transversal competences and active citizenship, the reality of the EFL classroom often remains anchored in transmissive models and "IRF" (Initiation-Response-Feedback) patterns that limit student agency.

Drawing on the panel’s core themes, this session explores how Freire’s "problem-posing" education can be operationalized in a foreign language context. We argue that the EFL classroom is uniquely positioned to be a "laboratory of democracy" because it requires students to negotiate meaning across linguistic and cultural boundaries. However, this potential is often stifled by the tension between the unpredictable nature of dialogic inquiry and the rigid constraints of the Italian curricolo chiuso.

The discussion will be structured around three interconnected dimensions:

Practices: How specific discussion formats (e.g., Exploratory Talk, Socratic Circles) can be adapted to the Italian EFL classroom to shift power dynamics from teacher-led to student-owned inquiry.
Languages: An analysis of how the English language acts as both a tool for emancipation and a potential barrier. We examine how "translanguaging" and the use of everyday repertoires can support inclusion in multilingual Italian school settings.
Conditions: A reflection on the professional competences and organizational "spaces" required for Italian teachers to sustain dialogic practices without abandoning institutional assessment requirements.

By presenting a mix of theoretical reflections and practice-based innovations—such as the transition from "correctness-focused" to "meaning-focused" assessment—this panel aims to demonstrate how dialogic teaching can transform the EFL classroom from a site of passive consumption into a space of shared responsibility and collective critical consciousness.