Examining the role of social and dialogic interactions when creating a fifth‐grade democratic classroom community

Abstract

Qualitative methodology is used to examine social and dialogic interactions, in a fifth‐grade classroom known as ‘Freedom Falls’. The author discusses social interaction through dialogue as a means of constructing a democratic classroom community for students. In this case study, through descriptive data, classroom dialogue is examined from the collective group to individual members. The author explains how she discovered that meanings about democracy in the classroom were transferred from the collective group to the individual members, and ways of expressing democratic practices in the classroom enhanced students’ participation as active classroom members responsible for their classroom culture.

Citation

Klockow, J.A. (2008), "Examining the role of social and dialogic interactions when creating a fifth‐grade democratic classroom community", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 20-36. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0801020