Teaching and Learning
Engaging in Dialogue – Student Agency Conferences
This term, our High Impact Learning Agency Traits (HILATs) focus has been Engaging in Dialogue.
Engaging in dialogue encourages students to actively participate in meaningful conversations that deepen their knowledge, learning, and critical thinking. By sharing ideas, asking questions, and considering other perspectives, students work together to build new understanding.
Learning to engage in dialogue helps develop active listening, clear communication, clarifying questions, and thoughtful reflection skills that support both individual and collective growth. It also links beautifully with our English curriculum, where students practise oral language skills and share their thinking and ideas.
Engaging in dialogue is important because it builds stronger connections with others and expands our own thinking. It fosters curiosity, empathy, and problem-solving by exposing students to different perspectives.
In our classrooms, we’ve been learning how to ‘engage in dialogue’ by:
- Being active listeners and exploring what that looks and sounds like
- Revoicing others’ thinking to clarify and show understanding
- Adding to or building on others’ ideas
- Respectfully sharing a different opinion when we have one
- Playing an active role in giving and receiving feedback—from ourselves, peers, and teachers
- Allowing ‘think time’ before sharing to organise our ideas
- Asking clarifying questions
- Encouraging all students to share their ideas using strategies like Think, Pair, Share and Turn and Talk
Student Agency Conferences
The purpose of our agency conferences is to support students in taking ownership of their learning. These conferences provide a space for students to reflect, recognise what helps them learn, and set new goals. It’s also a chance to identify which learning traits they’ll need to draw on, and how teachers and parents can support them.
What a perfect opportunity to engage in dialogue together and enhance learning!
For meaningful learning conversations to happen, it’s important that both teachers and parents are involved in that dialogue by supporting and extending student thinking.
To help your child prepare for their Student Agency Conference, here are some prompts you can use to encourage deeper reflection and sharing. We also use these in the classroom to shift the focus from praise like “Good job!” to curiosity and connection:
- “Tell me more about this.”
- “I can see that you…”
- “I noticed that…”
- “You look proud—are you? What are you proud of?”
- “I’m so curious—how did you do that?”
- “What was the hardest (or easiest) part?”
- “What did you learn from that?”
“How did you come up with that idea?”
Our Student Agency Conferences are always a highlight of the year. They’re a time for students to shine, reflect, and celebrate their learning journey.
We’re looking forward to a wonderful day of student voice, ownership, and engaging in dialogue!