Deepening Understanding through Dialogue

Barbara Anderson

“Are they in a nursing home?”

“I respectfully disagree. They have their shoes off! I think they’re at a family member’s house. See the family photos behind them?”

“I agree and want to build on his idea. The two men look alike, and they’re leaning into each other. Maybe they’re brothers visiting their grandparents.”

Conversations like this are a regular occurrence in my art room and illustrate why dialogue belongs in every classroom: it helps students collaboratively construct understanding. Discussing works of art is not about arriving at a single “correct” interpretation, but about considering multiple perspectives.

When students engage in structured dialogue, they do more than exchange ideas—they actively build meaning. Their conversations reflect the principles of social constructivism, where learning develops through interaction with others. As students question, challenge, and build on one another’s thinking, they move beyond first impressions to deeper understanding. Instead of relying on the teacher for answers, they learn to support their interpretations with evidence, listen carefully, and refine their ideas in response to new perspectives.

Three distinct discussion protocols have been particularly effective in fostering this kind of understanding in my classroom: the Spider Web Discussion method, the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), and a Challenges & Solutions protocol I developed. While each encourages collaboration, they do so in different ways.

Developed by Alexis Wiggins, the Spider Web Discussion places students at the center of the conversation. Students sit in a circle and lead the discussion while the teacher maps their interactions with connecting lines, creating a visual “spider web” of the dialogue. The web and a student-created rubric reinforce that listening, responding, and building on others’ ideas are just as important as speaking.

For example, while discussing Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, one group of fifth graders shared:

“I think those are women rowing the boat.”

“I respectfully disagree. They look like men to me, and men in colonial times had long hair.”

“I respectfully disagree. They look like men to me, and men in colonial times had long hair.”

“Why do they look alike? Are they the same person?”

Within minutes, students respectfully challenged one another, connected prior learning, and searched the painting for evidence before eventually arriving at a new understanding.

The Question Formulation Technique, developed by Rothstein and Santana, shifts the focus from answering questions to asking them. After observing an artwork, students generate their own questions before offering interpretations.

Rather than asking, “What does this painting mean?” students might wonder, “Why did the artist choose these colors?” or “What might the figures be feeling?” Their questions become the foundation for later discussions, encouraging curiosity, ownership, and sustained inquiry.

Dialogue is equally powerful when centered on students’ own artwork. In my Challenges & Solutions protocol, students share works in progress by first answering, “What challenge are you encountering?” Their responses are recorded in a T-chart titled Challenges and Possible Solutions, keeping the conversation focused on revision rather than evaluation.

Classmates suggest strategies by drawing on techniques they have learned or tried. The discussion transforms critique into collaborative problem-solving and helps students view revision as a natural part of the creative process. More importantly, they discover that everyone has valuable ideas to contribute.

One conversation continues to resonate with me. While discussing Sandra Silberzweigʼs Lilac Lapis Mountains, a student observed, “I think the artist is trying to show how she feels with color.”

Another student replied, “I thought she was just experimenting with color, too. But now that we learned about synesthesia, I think she’s trying to help us understand what it feels like to experience it.”

That moment captured the power of dialogue. One student’s thinking expanded because another offered a new perspective grounded in shared learning. Through structured dialogue, students deepen their understanding by learning with and from one another. These conversations strengthen artistic thinking while they also cultivate empathy, curiosity, and the ability to engage thoughtfully with perspectives beyond studentsʼ own.

Barbara Anderson is an elementary and middle school visual arts teacher with twenty-five years of experience in education. She began her career as a museum educator and has since taught in a variety of educational settings, focusing on inquiry-based art instruction, dialogue, and inclusive learning. In addition to teaching in public schools, she has served as an adjunct instructor at New York University, preparing future educators in curriculum design and teaching practices. barbara.anderson3376@gmail.com