I share this document with my high school students at the beginning of each semester just before we begin setting discussion norms. It has led to some rich conversations.
Powerful discussions don’t just happen. They take trust and courage. They require us to question things we thought we knew. They make us realize how hard it is to express our ideas. But when they do happen, they can be awesome. As a former student said . . .
“The way that you don’t actually teach us is one of your biggest strengths. You allow us to work collectively to figure out problems and understand them. I find that much more productive than taking notes and listening to a lecture . . . ”
There is no magic formula for a class where great discussions happen, but there are things that help. Over the past few years, I’ve kept a careful watch for those things and I’ve observed that the attitudes of the members of a class have a profound impact on the quality their discussions. In the best classes, I seen evidence of three attitudes that really made a difference: responsibility, respect, and community.
Responsibility:
In classes that have had really great discussions, members have acted as if it was their job to help make our discussions great. On any given day, students would . . .
- ask someone to speak up if they couldn’t hear.
- share their ideas.
- challenge ideas that they weren’t sure about.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: The took the responsibility to share questions and confusions.
I urge you to take up these responsibilities too. If you don’t understand what someone else is saying, ask them for clarification. No one will know whether you need clarification unless you say something like, “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”
Some people find it easy to talk in a group. For others, speaking up is an act of tremendous courage. Lots of people are nervous about talking in class. That’s normal. But real discussions don’t happen unless people share what’s on their mind. Be generous enough to share your ideas, even if they aren’t fully formed, even if they feel simple, even if you suspect they might be wrong. How might you take that courageous leap into our conversation?
Respect:
Because sharing in a group is so nerve-wracking for so many, respect is critical. In the classes that have had great discussions, it was a given that everyone would be listened to and taken seriously. They would:
- Never make fun of, put down, or laugh at anyone.
- Listen and try to understand everyone who spoke.
- Disagree with ideas instead of people. (“I disagree with Ben’s idea,” instead of , “I disagree with Ben.”) It seems small, but it made a big difference.
- Safeguard against having just a few people dominate the conversation.
That last one was particularly important. It takes some people a long time to form ideas. If those of us who process quickly jump in all the time, then we lose valuable voices. Some of best classes have agreed to a “Three Before Me” rule–if you’ve just spoken, let three others talk before you offer another idea.
Community:
In this class, just like in real science, we’ll be figuring things out together as we go.
Figuring out is hard. We want the world to be black and white. We want right answers. There will be times when you want me to stop the conversation and just tell you what’s “right”. Sometimes it’s hard to accept that we are the ones who determine what “right” is based on the evidence we have. The classes that have been able to do that have really walked away with something powerful. What did it look like?
- They were flexible. They would consider lots of ideas, even ones that people thought were “wrong”.
- They were willing to trust. They trusted each other, and they trusted their own abilities to figure things out together.
- They took everyone along with them. Students taught each other. No one got left behind.
- They were willing to talk plainly. When people were lost or frustrated, they said so. When they weren’t learning as much as they thought they could, they suggested a change of course.
This is your class. Claim it! The discussions we have will only be as good as you make them.