“What I Mean Is…”: The role of dialogic interactions in developing a statement of teaching philosophy

Abstract This case study explores the role of dialogic interactions in a US-based Korean doctoral student’s efforts to write a statement of teaching philosophy (TPS) as part of her employment applications in science education. While previous studies have examined the role of pedagogical strategies and available resources to help students improve their statement, these approaches tend to be dispensed by field experts such as faculty members; few studies have examined methods that can be adopted by a tutor-student dyad in which the tutor must rely on the student’s knowledge and perspectives in order to help the student write and improve the statement. In this study, the participant and I (the researcher) discussed the participant’s concerns regarding her TPS drafts. Bakhtin’s (1981) concept of dialogism was employed to facilitate the participant’s attempts to write her statement. Results showed that dialogic interactions aided the participant in clarifying her thoughts through verbalization and subsequently transferring those thoughts to her writing. The interactions also facilitated the participant’s efforts to infuse her writing with uniqueness or individualism, a key component of the TPS.