This chapter introduces this book, The Dialogic Classroom: International Research on Pedagogy, Practice and Change, by foregrounding the centrality of talk in shaping the lessons that students encounter everyday as they step into their classrooms. The chapter argues for talk and interaction to be understood and practiced with a dialogic sensibility developed among teachers and students as they accomplish their lessons. Dialogic talk is not a strategy or matter of happenstance, but rather is derived from a pedagogical stance that intentionally and strategically promotes open communicative spaces where teachers and their students explicitly share in its co-construction and accomplishment. While generations of social researchers have explored the nature and impact of educational dialogues, a key challenge remains: ways to disrupt restrictive talk patterns that continue to dominate many classrooms. Despite an extensive body of international research demonstrating the value and influence of dialogic pedagogies, educational policy continues to underestimate the power of purposeful talk in driving student engagement, agency, and achievement. Moreover, teacher professional development efforts to change classroom talk practices remain small scale and piecemeal at best and so sustainability and scalability are compromised. Drawing insights from influential scholars and their own research, authors of chapters in this volume, position dialogic pedagogies as central for facilitating opportunities for developing students’ knowledge, critical thinking, and participation—not only in school but in wider social contexts. The chapters contribute to a growing call for embedding dialogic pedagogies, and the sensibility to it, framing dialogic pedagogies as the cornerstone of social and educational transformation.