Types of talk
On this website we focus on how teachers or any adult figures can improve their approach to dialogue with children so as to take greater advantage of situations loaded with possibilities for natural science exploring and learning, and where success in achieving this can be helped by the way the conversation unfolds.
The importance of talk in kindergarten and school
It is obvious that talk is important in kindergarten and school. Adults and children are talking together all the time. Talk is the main medium for social learning, for communicating opinions and for exploring the world together. In line with this, many researchers on oral communication have stated that talk is extremely important in education (Sfard 2008, Alexander 2004/2019, Kim & Wilkinson 2019, Cui & Theo 2020, etc.). The following expression from Kim & Wilkinson can illustrate these views: “Few things are as well-established in the educational sciences as the proposition that language is the primary vehicle for learning and plays a central role in connecting teaching, learning, and cognitive development” (Kim & Wilkinson 2019, p. 70). On this website we focus on how you can become better at talking with children.