Egalitarian dialogue

Egalitarian dialogue is a dialogue in which contributions are considered according to the validity of their reasoning, instead of according to the status or position of power of those who make them. Although previously used widely in the social sciences and in reference to the Bakhtinian philosophy of dialogue, it was first systematically applied to dialogical education by Ramón Flecha in his 2000 work Sharing Words. Theory and Practice of Dialogic Learning. Egalitarian dialogue is one of the seven principles of dialogic learning (Flecha, 2000), the others being cultural intelligence, equality of differences, creation of meaning, instrumental dimension, solidarity, and transformation. The principle of egalitarian dialogue is deeply interrelated with the other principles of dialogic learning. By recognizing all people's cultural intelligence and respecting differences from an egalitarian standpoint, egalitarian dialogue encourages individuals to create meaning, develop solidarity among different people, and create new instrumental dimensions. This interdependence among the principles of dialogic learning favors constant social transformation. The recognition and respect of different types of knowledge raises the awareness that each person has something to share, something different and equally important. Therefore, the wider the diversity of voices engaged in egalitarian dialogue, the better the knowledge that can be dialogically constructed. In this sense, dialogic learning is oriented towards equality of differences, stating that true equality includes the right to live in a different way (Flecha, 2000). This perspective, which Paulo Freire (1997) calls unity in diversity, never defends diversity or difference without simultaneously proposing equality and fairness toward different individual and groups. Equality of differences is also enacted in the Learning Communities (Valls, 2000; Elboj et al., 2001). The Learning Communities are schools in Spain, Brazil and Chile that have undergone a process of educational and social transformation based on dialogic learning.