Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings - A Way to Create New Possibilities to Learn Mathematics

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky

The paper presents Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings (MDG) as an effective approach for adults learning mathematics, reporting observations from an adult school group in Barcelona. Participants without academic trajectories meet weekly to read, share, and discuss textbook paragraphs, using egalitarian dialogue to scaffold understanding. Drawing on collected discussion data, the author argues adults learn through negotiated meanings of mathematical objects expressed through dialogic talk. The study concludes MDG can expand learning opportunities, particularly for adults who never attended formal schooling or who dropped out.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and Implementation of MDG

Theoretical Framework

Schemas and Genetic Epistemology

Social Interaction and Zone of Proximal Development

Díez-Palomar, J. (2017) Mathematics dialogic gatherings: A way to create new possibilities to learn mathematics. Adults Learning Mathematics: An International Journal, 12(1), 39-48. Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings: A Way to Create New Possibilities to Learn Mathematics Javier Díez-Palomar University of Barcelona <[jdiezpalomar@ub.edu](jdiezpalomar@ub.edu)> Abs tract This paper introduces the Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings (MDG) as a successful way to encourage adults’ learning of mathematics. We report on a group of adults who attended a MDG in an adult school placed in Barcelona. Participants in this group do not have an academic trajectory. They attend once a week a session in the adult school, where they read, share and discuss paragraphs from textbooks of mathematics. Popular gatherings are a historical way for adults to learn in Spain. MDG are based on the dialogic learning approach developed by Flecha and others. In this session I will provide evidence on adults’ discussions illustrating how they scaffold themselves through egalitarian dialogue to learn and understand the mathematical concepts included in the textbooks used within the MDG. Drawing on the data collected, I argue that adults learn as a result of a dialogue in which they negotiate the meaning of the mathematical objects discussed, using dialogic talk. I conclude that MDG have the potential to create further learning opportunities especially for those who have never attended formal school courses, or dropped out of their school. Key words: Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings, classic readings in mathematics, dialogic learning Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings (MDGs) were first implemented during the 1980s in La Verneda Adult School, in Barcelona. This school is well-known internationally because being the place were Dialogic Literary Gatherings (DLGs) started in late 1970s (Soler, 2015). At that time, Ramon Flecha, with other friends, lead a community-based movement demanding for a public adult school in a working-class neighborhood, in Barcelona. A group of people, most of them without academic experience (they never attended any school), occupied a famous building in that neighborhood turning it into a community center. They began to learn in that building, and they created the adult school. Some of them formed a group who decided to read classic texts. People, who barely had attended a school, started reading Ulysses by Joyce, Don Quijote de la Mancha by Cervantes, or Hamlet by Shakespeare, using dialogic learning (Flecha, 1997) . In 1999 this school became the first Spanish educational experience published in the Harvard Educational Review (Sanchez, 1999) . Now thousands of people have conducted DLG all around the World (Flecha, 2011; De Botton et al., 2014; Serrano & Mirceva, 2010) . Following the path opened by these people, a group of six women begun to met every week in an adult school, in Barcelona, reading the classics, but in the field of mathematics. This paper is the story of those women, the first MDG. First, I will provide the theoretical framework to understand the basis of MDGs. Then, I will describe the ways in which MDGs work. Going back to the founders of DLGs, I will offer a justification as to why is it important to use classic readings rather than any other type of reading. Finally, I will discuss adult mathematics learning drawing on a particular example coming out from the MDG meetings. Volume 12(1)– 2017 39 Theoretical Fram ework Mathematics literacy involves a number of abstract cognitive skills, or what Vygotsky would call“high mental functions.” During the last century, Piaget’s ideas were celebrated and quoted to claim that cognition is a developmental process in which individuals construct knowing. He proposed the idea of cognitive “schemas” to understand what happens when someone learns a concept. In his Genetic Epistemology Piaget conceived the schemes as units of analysis to represent “units of learnin

FAQs

What is the purpose of Mathematics Dialogic Gatherings (MDG)?

MDG aims to encourage adult learning of mathematics through structured dialogic sessions centered on discussion and sharing of textbook content.

How do MDG sessions work in the adult school setting described?

A small group meets weekly to read, share, and discuss mathematics paragraphs from textbooks, using egalitarian dialogue to support learning.

What theoretical ideas does the paper use to explain how learning happens?

The paper draws on Genetic Epistemology and the assimilation–accommodation–equilibrium mechanism, and it also emphasizes social learning through Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky