ABSTRACT
Educational researchers have been devoted to the study of the quality of dialogue in teaching and learning to improve not only academic achievement but also to foster social competences and democratic values. The chapters in this volume and the evidence provided, among a wide array of research in the field, justify this claim. Society has become increasingly dialogic, in which dialogism, defined as social interaction, intrinsically defines human nature (Freire, 1997). Language plays a crucial role in human existence for its capacity to enable us to share thoughts and organize our social life (Mercer, 2000, 2013). Therefore, in a dialogic society people’s dialogues are key in shaping social actions and structures towards democracy. Dialogic Literary Gatherings (DLGs) exemplify how dialogue is put into practice in literacy learning to foster a transformation of the individual and collective experience of reading. Developed in Spain from the early 1980s with adult learners, DLGs have been replicated across educational stages and systems worldwide leading to academic and social improvements in many diverse contexts.
