Teaching the Bible Dialogically - Reflections on "Teaching Reflectively in Theological Contexts," ed. Mary Hess and Stephen Brookfield

Anyone even remotely familiar with pedagogical "jargon" of the last few decades is quite familiar with the dreaded designation "sage on the stage!" This "teacher-centered" (another pejorative term) approach is slowly giving way to approaches that are, to use the vernacular, "dialogical" and conversationally oriented. Many of these issues are addressed in a recent book by Mary Hess and Stephen Brookfield, both of whom are professional educators. As a beginning teacher, I have found their reflections on this matter to be sagely and timely!

I come to their book with several questions:

1. How large of a role does "dialogue" play in an introductory class, when classes are relatively large (40+) and the curriculum demands that a certain amount of content needs to be presented?
2. I teach students who, due to their deeply religious upbringing, often value the notion of certitude over ambiguity and paradox. How can one begin to deal with "truth" on the level of conversation and dialogue when, for many of my students, truth is not a matter to be discussed, but rather asserted and defended?