Democratic Dialogue in Education: Troubling Speech, Disturbing Silence

This collection brings into dialogue authors from a range of disciplines and perspectives to address the thorny question of how to balance the demands of democratic dialogue with the reality of a world in which each voice does not carry equal weight. Should rules be in place, for example, that correct for such imbalances by privileging some voices or muting others? Should separate spaces be created for traditionally disadvantaged groups to speak only among themselves? Is democratic dialogue in an inclusive sense even a possibility in a world divided by multiple dimensions of power and privilege?
Leading theorists from several countries share a concern for social justice and present radically different interpretations of what democracy means for educational practice. In a format unusual for such collections, the essays speak directly to each other about significant moral, philosophical, and practical differences regarding how to effectively engage students as critical participants in classrooms fraught with power and difference. The authors draw from philosophy, critical race theory, sociology, feminist, and poststructural studies to address topics including hate speech, freedom of expression, speech codes, the meanings of silence, conceptions of voice and agency, and political correctness. They explore honestly and self-critically the troubling and disturbing dimensions of speech and silence that situate the classroom as a volatile microcosm of contemporary political contradictions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820463191
• ISBN13: 9780820463193
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi
• Length: 165 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Unique compendium,

Here's a book that practices what it preaches, with interesting effect. It 'preaches' open communication, in that it examines teachers' responsibilities to encourage expression by students in the classroom in order to free usually oppressed voices from their silences and at the same time provide others with the opportunity to experience others' outlooks. By this same token, the editor has arranged that each contributor had the opportunity to read the other essays included in the collection, with the opportunity to modify their own submissions if they chose in light of what the others had to say. The result is an interesting discussion of a wide range of significant and sometimes subtle considerations in how to protect, support -- and hear -- diverse expression in oppressive times.