DEEP LEARNING THROUGH DIALOGUE -
HOW TO USE THE DIALE METHODS

DIALE is designed to enable a person who is in a group of any kind to advance themselves so that their abilities in successful dialogue can be enhanced. This enables better communication and understanding of both people around them and help them in their studies. Over the past 10 years Dr. Helena Aarnio and her colleague Dr. Jouni Enqvist both of HAMK University, Hameenlina, Finland have been working on the development of a system to teach people to develop their skills in learning and collaboration with others.

The attendees at the first meeting of the DIALE project at HAMK University in Hameenlina, Finland are pictured above.

Learning experiences are often considered superficial, discussions with other people are regarded as lacking in content and collaboration in various communities often remains shallow.


Dialogue is at the core of social interaction. Dialogue is interactive in itself. It must involve respect and appreciation for one another, reciprocity and commitment. People often communicate with others in a way that emphasises their own ability to speak. This skews the dialogue and makes it asymmetrical instead of alternating between speaking and receptive listening. When people are not properly heard, they close up. In a learning situation this means that they become afraid to express their thoughts if what they say is not perfect.
- Helena Aarnio, HAMK



The goal of "Deep learning through dialogue" is to facilitate learning, interaction and collaboration in various situations in educational, business organisations and in other communities.

Interaction, collaboration and deep learning can be learned through practising dialogue. Dialogue helps one get along with and improve one's collaboration with different people. In addition, conversation based on the principles of dialogue forces one to learn more deeply and more efficiently. This may seem implausible at first, but the effort is worth making. A group is initially brought together by carrying out the first task.

The latest Bulletin from the DIALE Project is available in PDF format here

A number of the tasks or exercises developed by Ms Aarnio are contained in this document in PDF format. You can print and use as many as you wish acknowledging the source.

The Leonardo da Vinci "DIALE" project website can be accessed here
The website is almost entirely in English.
Please Note: If using Internet Explorer, answer "No" if a security question appears.

By accessing the "Wiki" section of the website you can download all of the tasks which have been developed as practical exercises.
These tasks can be used to develop a deeper understanding of Deep Dialogue in members of a group. They are very useful in Personal Development and Communications courses.