Exploring the conditions of transformative dialogue

Over the past 40 years, the importance of dialogue as a medium of transformation, has been increasingly stressed. Since the so called “language turn” as described by Richard Rorty, the importance of communication in human being, human relating, and human action has been stressed. In a world of increasing upheaval and diversity, learning to deal with diversity and difference is one of the main challenges of contemporary education. Creating transformation through dialogue with the stranger, in the encounter with difference, may very well be one on the primary methods of dealing with increased diversity. By drawing on examples of an intervention program designed to enhance multicultural understanding and skills of teachers in Danish primary schools, this article investigates the conditions necessary for dialogue and questions the assumption that dialogue in and of itself in essence is transformative.