ABSTRACT
There exists an inherent tension within contemporary discussions of dialogic pedagogies (e.g., Alexander, 2001, 2005, 2008; Mercer & Littleton, 2007) between eliciting and exploring students’ divergent understandings and means of expression, on the one hand, and teaching them to think in culturally recognized terms, on the other. How are democratic educators to make sense of this tension—particularly within countries with institutionalized legacies of racialized prejudice and oppression? What might it mean for teachers to explore with interest their students’ original and unfamiliar constructions, outlooks, and understandings? Through what forms of pedagogical and methodological processes might a generative balance between classroom convergence and divergence be imagined, enacted, and studied?
