1. The Power of Dialogue
in Educating Adults
Jane Vella, Global Learning Partners
www.globallearningpartners.com

2. DIALOGUE EDUCATION
is a system for the design
and leading and evaluation
of effective learning

3. The Essentials
 Preparation
 Principle-driven decision-making
 Process: learning tasks and materials
 Proof in Practice: indicators of learning,
transfer and impact

4. Essentials of Dialogue Education
1. Preparation
• Learning Needs & Resources Assessment
• The dialogue begins before the course does
• Eight Design Steps
• WHO – participants
• WHY – the situation
• SO THAT – evaluation
• WHEN – time frame
• WHERE - site
• WHAT - content
• WHAT FOR – achievement-based objectives
• HOW – learning tasks and materials

5. Essentials of Dialogue Education
2. Principle-based Decision-making
• Respect
• Engagement
• Sequence
• Open Questions
• Relationships
• Cognitive/Affective/Psychomotor Aspects
• Immediacy
• Relevance
• Learners as Subjects
• Safety
• Small Group Work
• Accountability

6. Essentials of Dialogue Education
3. Process: Learning Tasks
A learning task is an open question put
to a small group with all the resources they
need to respond.

7. Four Parts of a Learning Task
Inductive Work – anchoring the new learning in the
experience of the learners
Input – adding new content
Implementation – applying or doing something with
that content
Integration – take it away!

8. Essentials of Dialogue Education
4. Proof in Practice
• Indicators of learning (behaviors, products)
• Indicators of transfer (behaviors, products)
• Indicators of impact (behaviors -
consciousness: creating new systems)

9. Selected Resources for Further Study
 Dr. Jane Vella 1221 Moultrie Court Raleigh NC 27615 (mail
address) 919 329 2818 jane@globalearning.com
 www.globalearningpartners.com
 Voices in Dialogue www.globalearningpartners.com/voices
 http//learningcycle.ca D.Hodgson’s blog featuring Dialogue
Education
 Vella, Jane Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach, Jossey Bass Wiley
2nd ed. 2001
 Vella, Jane On Teaching and Learning, Jossey Bass Wiley 2008