In an increasingly monologic world of war, exploitation and fear of "the other", dialogue within and between humans, and with the world around us, is critical to a humane future.
This book explores dialogue and learning in theory, practice and praxis across a spectrum of lifelong education contexts. It develops a philosophical basis by examining the lives, works and dialogic traditions of four key thinkers: Socrates, Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin and Paulo Freire. It then examines dialogue and learning in contexts ranging from early childhood development to adult, community and higher education. In doing so, it develops and illustrates the innovative concepts of dialogic space, boundary learning and diacognition. It has a specific focus on learners and learning in contexts of oppression and marginality, and with a view to personal and social emancipation. It is located in an African context, specifically South Africa, although its resonance is both local and global.

The book marks an innovative contribution to our understanding of dialogue and learning, framed by the great dialogic traditions of the past, and is a dialogical provocation to the ongoing generation of praxis.

"This book is valuable for grounding lifelong learning experiences within an African context. It underlines the complexities involved in carrying out 'authentic' dialogue at different stages of education in Africa throughout the lifespan, exploring cases of border crossing and boundary maintenance." - Peter Mayo, University of Malta and Series Editor of the International Issues in Adult Education Series

Foreword: Learning through Dialogue.-
Acknowledgements.- List of Tables and Figures.- Introduction.- Part 1:
Dialogue: A Genealogy for Education.- Socrates and Dialogue as Vocation.-
Introduction.- The Historical Socrates.- Socrates in Dialogue and the Dialogic
Socrates.- Dialogue and Dialectic.- Socrates and the Questions of Learning.-
Socrates as Educator.- Socrates and Contemporary Education.- Conclusion.-
Martin Buber and the Life of Dialogue.- Introduction.- Outline of a Life.-
Buber and Dialogue.- Buber the Educator.- Buber's Dialogic Approach to
Education.- Buber's Continuing Dialogue in Education.- Conclusion.- Mikhail
Bakhtin and Ideological Becoming.- Introduction.- Living in Tumultuous Times.-
The Question of Bakhtin and Education.- Dialogue, Teaching and Learning.-
Authorship and Internally Persuasive Discourse.- Conclusion.- Paulo Freire and
Emancipatory Education.- Introduction.- Life.- Key Ideas: Dialogue,
Conscientisation, Praxis.- Teaching, Learning and Knowing.- Freire's Continuing
Influence on Education.- Conclusion.- Part 2: Dialogue and Lifelong Education.-
Adult Education Projects and Dialogic Space.- Introduction.- Dialogue and
Emancipatory Education.- Critiques of a Pedagogy of Dialogue.- Defining
Dialogue in Relation to Educational Transformation.- Adult Education Projects
as Dialogic Spaces.- The Context of the Tuition Project.- The Case of the
Tuition Project.- Apartheid as Anti-Dialogue.- Conditions for Dialogue.-
Dialogue, Movement and Common Ground.- Dialogue and 'Responsibility'.-
Conclusion.- Bakhtin and the Poetics of Pedagogy.- Introduction.- Mikhail
Bakhtin: Background and Key Ideas.- Dialogue and Student Development.- Language
Types and Pedagogy.- Speech Genres and Dialogic Learning.- A Boundary Pedagogy
of Dialogue and Access: Constraints and Challenges.- Conclusion.- Early
Childhood Development and Relational Pedagogy.- Introduction.- Context of
Research.- Purpose of the Project.- Theoretical Framing.- Methodology.-
Findings.- Conclusion.- Bakhtin and Freire: Dialogue, Dialectic and Bound