Complexity theory originally arose from systems thinking in disciplines such as Cybernetics and Ecology. However, from the late 1970s, it developed ideas such as non-linearity, emergence, adaption, self-organisation and threshold which have proved generative in relation to understanding of social systems with dynamic and emergent properties, including education. This paper focuses on the complexity of dialogue in teaching and learning contexts. In particular, it draws on a rural student teacher education project situated at schools on the Wild Coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province to explore the dialogic learning that student teachers experience. It shows that student teachers’ dialogic learning is situated within complex interacting systems of language, culture and pedagogy, among others. These systems can generate possibilities of complementarity and conflict, which pose challenges for student teacher agency and identity. The paper argues that the reflexivity and supportive relationships built into the project allow for expansive learning among student teachers. A complexivist lens can assist in illuminating the possibilities and constraints for this kind of learning.
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