The possibilities and problems of dialogical pedagogy: lessons from an Australian university survey questionnaire for supervising postgraduate learning

Abstract

Dialogical pedagogy has previously been proposed as a productive framework for conceptualising and implementing postgraduate education. This chapter considers the possibilities and problems associated with applying dialogical pedagogy to postgraduate learning and supervision in an Australian university faculty of education, based on selected quantitative and qualitative results from an online survey questionnaire completed by masters and doctoral students. The thematic analysis focuses on the degree to which respondents felt connected with their supervisors and links those perceptions with dialogical pedagogy. The chapter’s findings have important implications for understanding how teaching methods ideally and practically affect students’ learning in postgraduate education.