Dialogue Education - History

History

In the Dialogue Education approach, the idea of dialogue is used in contrast to the monologue approach often seen in traditional adult education, whereby teachers present information to learners who receive information without engaging with it. This was labelled the "banking" approach to education by Paulo Freire in his 1970 work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. According to Freire, the traditional monologue approach to adult education views learners as empty vessels ready for teachers to deposit information into (Vella, 2004). Freire and others recognized a need for reform in adult education practices, particularly with respect to equity in the relationship between adult learners and teachers (Vella, 2004).

Influenced by these theorists, Vella began to develop a structured set of principles and practices to translate the theory into action and results. She began using Dialogue Education practices in her teaching in the 1970s and these were further developed into a systematic approach while completing her doctoral dissertation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At this point, she named her approach popular education after Freire's model (Global Learning Partners, 2006a,b; Vella, 2004).

The Dialogue Education approach became even more advanced as Vella created her own training company Jubilee Popular Education Centre, now called Global Learning Partners, in 1981. Through this organization, more than 3,500 learners from 60 countries have completed workshops about the dialogue approach to learning design and facilitation. The approach has also been used for conducting learning assessments, learning evaluations and designing and facilitating meetings (Global Learning Partners, 2006d).

The concepts of Dialogue Education are continually evolving as Vella, her partners and the learners of this approach gain greater understanding of how best to put adult learning theory into action for effective results.