Opening, Deepening, and Widening Dialogic Space in Argument Classrooms

Given the importance of teaching and learning argumentation, across disciplines for participation in academic and civil discourse, this article examines how dialogic space is created and sustained in classrooms where argument is taught and learned and, when it is created, what affordances it brings to learning argumentation. Dialogic space is a shared space of mutual resonance where we see, feel, or think things from at least 2 points of view at once. While any instructional setting has the potential to create dialogic space, this potential is not always realized. Using data from previously published research on classroom discourse around argumentation in secondary English language arts classrooms, I present how dialogic space can be opened, deepened, and widened as well as how teachers can engage students in argumentation within this space. I conclude by briefly discussing the contexts and affordances of creating dialogic space in argument classrooms.