Literature Review on Teacher Training Practices for Classroom Discussion Management in Primary School

The use of classroom discussion as a teaching strategy raises important questions regarding teachers’ preparation to effectively manage dialogic processes and foster meaningful student participation in increasingly complex and heterogeneous classrooms. Within the current educational debate, discussion is widely recognized as a powerful pedagogical tool to promote critical thinking, argumentation, and inclusive learning environments, as it enables the co-construction of knowledge and supports students in engaging with diverse perspectives. In this framework, the teacher assumes a crucial role as both facilitator and director of interaction, guiding the flow of discourse while encouraging students’ active involvement. However, the effective implementation of this strategy depends on specific professional training, which remains unevenly developed and often marginal in educational practice, particularly in relation to the explicit development of teachers’ discursive and interactional competences. In this context, the present study aims to systematically map and analyze existing research on teacher training practices related to classroom discussion, in order to provide a solid empirical and theoretical basis for the design of subsequent training interventions within a broader research project. The study is part of a larger project within a PhD in Social, Developmental, and Educational Research Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome, currently underway, developed by Dr. Beatrice Carbè, under the supervision of Prof. Giordana Szpunar and Prof. Patrizia Sposetti. The study adopts a Scoping Review methodology guided by the PRISMA framework, ensuring transparency and rigor in the selection and analysis of the literature. The review was conducted through the development of a structured search string applied to major international databases in the educational and psychopedagogical fields, including ERIC, PsycINFO, and Scopus, complemented by a systematic exploration of 53 Italian scientific journals classified as band A, in order to include both international and national contributions. The identification and management of the studies were supported by the Zotero platform, which facilitated the organization of references and the different phases of the review process. An initial pool of 591 contributions was identified, from which 6 duplicates were removed, resulting in 585 records screened. The selection process was conducted in two stages: first, titles and abstracts were analyzed to exclude non-relevant contributions (n=496); second, a full-text review was carried out on the remaining articles (n=89), applying inclusion and exclusion criteria defined in advance. At the end of the process, 19 studies were included in the review, of which 16 were empirical and 3 theoretical-methodological. The results highlight that, although classroom discussion is frequently acknowledged in the literature as a valuable educational strategy, it is often addressed as a transversal practice, without explicit reference to structured teacher training processes or to clearly defined training models. Consequently, there is a limited body of research specifically focused on how to prepare teachers to effectively conduct and manage dialogic interactions in the classroom. This gap is particularly evident in the Italian context, where contributions on teacher education appear less developed compared to some international experiences characterized by diversified approaches, the use of structured protocols, and the availability of analytical tools aimed at supporting teachers’ discursive competences. Furthermore, the analysis of the selected studies suggests that training interventions are often episodic and not systematically integrated into professional development pathways. In conclusion, the study underscores the need to strengthen research on teacher training for classroom discussion by promoting the design of targeted and continuous professional development programs and by developing operational tools capable of supporting teachers in the conscious, reflective, and effective use of dialogic strategies in everyday teaching practice, thus contributing to the improvement of both teaching quality and student learning outcomes.