A guest post by Professor Fiona Maine, University of Exeter
At some point in the early 90s the headteacher of the first school I taught in handed me a book called Tell Me: Children, Reading and Talk by Aidan Chambers.
We had already spoken about our enthusiasm for reading and how satisfying it was to talk with children about books we were sharing in class reading sessions, often at the end of the day as we caught our breath from a fully scheduled day of learning.
At the time, I had merrily started Elidor by Alan Garner with the class, and although the children (Y5 I think by that time) were game for a meaty novel, I could sense that there were parts of the book that they were unsure of, and that unpacking these might lead to some deeper enjoyment and excitement about the story.
I dutifully read the Chambers book that Steve Bicknell had handed me and realised that the simple Tell Me framework of prompts might well motivate the readers – and from that point forward, our ‘booktalk’, as Chambers called it and others have taken up, took flight.
Chambers’ model is simple. When talking about a shared book with a group of children, he describes three ‘sharings’:
1) To reflect on one’s own preferences and enthusiasms (likes and dislikes) as a central understanding of oneself as a reader;
2) To notice the connections (sometimes internal to the text, or to one’s own life, world knowledge or other texts) that are being made as we read;
3) To spot ‘puzzles’ or moments of confusion in reading. This, I realised was the pivot – especially when noticing that ‘dislikes’ often overlapped with ‘puzzles’.
We collected ideas around these prompts from the start of our reading of Elidor and tried to unpack the mysteries of the text by creating a huge map on the chalkboard (yes, it really was that long ago). It was important to notice that the children disagreed about what they liked and disliked – we captured it all and then started to try to make sense of it.
Figure 1. Elidor Tell Me Responses
The three sharings
The framing of Tell Me at first glance seems very monologic – the implication that children are telling their ideas to the teacher does not sound very dialogic at all. However, the sharings of Tell Me act as an invitation to all in the group to explore their ideas together.
Each of the three sharings offers rich opportunity for deep dialogic discussion where different viewpoints come to the fore and children realise that interpretations of text are not singular and definite, but varied and personal.
Sharing preferences
Being asked to first explore one’s own response to the text as a whole moves quickly beyond the idea of booktalk being about reading comprehension assessment. It establishes the reader firmly at the centre of the meaning-making process and reflects a dialogic engagement with the book itself.
Being asked about one’s own responses allows children to reflect on their identity as a reader. Why is it that some textual features, story elements or author positions simply do not sit well with us? What do we learn about our values as a result of this and, importantly, when we discover that others feel differently?
Sharing connections
Making connections is at the heart of how we make sense of the world, relating new experiences to what we know already and spotting patterns in what we perceive. Inviting children to explore the connections that they have made allows them to experience alternative experiences, to open their world-view further and to enable them to make deeper connections to the text and each other.
As a prompt for dialogic discussion, this can mean that children ask each other to expand their ideas as they find out more. What does this remind me of? Is it similar to other books I’ve read? Does it give me a familiar feeling?
Sharing puzzlements
I didn’t understand it when… is a great starting point as it allows children to problem-solve together and also further explore their preferences. Identifying moments of confusion in reading is not only a key metacognitive reading strategy, but it also means opening up and trusting the group of co-readers with one’s uncertainly. The classroom ethos needed for this to happen is empathetic and inclusive and in clear alignment with dialogic values.
Acknowledging that confusing parts of a story might be caused by not holding onto the ‘thread’ of a story, or that actually the story makes no sense, is important if that also affects how we feel about it and our motivation to continue with it. Finding that others feel the same can be reassuring!
Reflecting on Booktalk as dialogic interaction
So how are the discussions ‘productive’ and how can they be called ‘dialogue? Much of the research about dialogic pedagogy centres on the importance of outcomes or a goal to reach agreement and on developing key reasoning skills. It is possible that this is because some of the most influential work around exploratory talk has been grounded in lessons that were science or maths orientated, with reasoning at the heart of exploratory talk (Mercer, 2010).
In literary discussions, ideas and interpretations might not necessarily be opposed or lead to an agreed position but are about expanding one’s own interpretations of a text, engaging with the ideas of others to gain more insights, and ultimately coming to one’s own sense of meaning.
So, questions that provoke readers to explore their preferences, to engage with the ideas of others and try to understand different interpretations enrich textual understanding and augment this experience.
Those early experiences of engaging children in exploratory discussions, where meaning-making was a joint and inclusive endeavour, were the catalyst of my enthusiasm for listening to and providing opportunities for children to talk together to make meaning from text.
Essentially this is a dialogic process and I have written before about children as Dialogic Readers (Maine, 2015) who are critical and creative thinkers; flexible, responsive and reflective, mindful of their own reading and welcoming of the views of others.
To that list I would now add ‘inclusive’ as I have realised that the central tenet of dialogue is being able to relate to and include other voices, as only then would ideas be held, in Wegerif’s words, ‘in tension’ (2013) with each other, not negatively, but in a suspension between speakers to be considered, deepened, challenged and explored.
And finally, a footnote:
I was saddened to hear earlier this year (May 2025) that Aidan Chambers had died at the ripe old age of 90. I had been very lucky to hear him speak at a conference some years ago, where I got him to sign my copy of Tell Me, and also to tell him about how Steve Bicknell, who he remembered fondly, had pointed me towards the book.
Biography
Chambers, A. (2011). Tell Me: Children, reading and talk with the reading environment. The Thimble Press.
Maine, F. (2015). Dialogic readers: Children talking and thinking together about visual texts. Routledge.
Mercer, N. (2010). The Analysis of Classroom Talk: Methods and Methodologies. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(1), 1–14.
Wegerif, R. (2013). Dialogic: Education for the Internet Age. Routledge.
Biography
Fiona Maine is Professor of Language and Literacy in Education at the University of Exeter. She is a primary teacher at heart and has spent many years working alongside teachers to support them as they develop their literacy practices. Her research investigates the dialogic interactions of children as they talk together to make meaning together from visual, moving image and digital narratives. Her recent DIALLS project www.dialls2020.eu explored how children can develop tolerant, empathetic and inclusive behaviours through engaging in dialogue.