An outline of assessment in humanistic conversations: Definitions, aims, and design

In this chapter we address the issue of assessment of the humanistic conversation. For this, we start by outlining our account of the notion of humanistic conversation and its importance to contemporary education. We point out similarities and differences between its various forms and other kinds of talk. We argue that although the reference to educational dialogues has become ubiquitous, the evaluation of the quality of the dialogue as a form of talk is a challenge. We suggest seeing evaluation of dialogue as an enacted humanistic act that is being learned and discussed. In order to be visible rather than simply being hinted at, evaluation of dialogic talk must be incorporated into educational practice. The chapter presents curricular design for such incorporation and discusses its implications.