"Discussion as a Way of Teaching" by Stephen Brookfield

I think as future teachers it is really important for us to understand what makes a discussion good and helpful or bad and unproductive. I was never in a class before Eastern where well thought out discussions took place. I had experienced lots of lectures and students arguing without a purpose. I like the idea that before discussion takes place in a classroom there are some ground rules and basic ideas set in place. No teacher had ever done that for me, but I feel as if rules are important so everyone can take part in the discussion and know how to proceed with the discussion. When reading about the circle of voices I like the general idea but maybe not the whole practice. What I live is that everyone will have a chance to say something. I know in high school I was afraid of sounding stupid, so I never wanted to speak up. Circle of voices would give more anxious kids a chance to say something and still be heard uninterrupted which is really good for the smart, silent kids we’ll have in our classrooms. What I don’t understand is in the second part after the discussion why the students can’t expand on their ideas. I understand they are responding to ideas already stated, but what if they’re response doesn’t make sense without an expansion? Is that when a student would then ask them to expand so it makes sense? (I think that makes sense not that I have thought about it.) I also like the idea that everyone in the group has a role. As I got older I often fell into the position of Devil’s advocate. I think it would be a good idea to introduce the students to all the different roles, assign them roles, and as they get more comfortable with class discussion fall into their own role or even many if the shoe fits. I think as a teacher I would have to monitor that and make sure everyone fits in to the discussion not only a few students. I honestly love this article because it gives us so many different ideas on how to have a successful discussion and how to reach all kids. I do think it’s important to make sure all kids are involved and get comfortable with the class. I also think that it is important to make the students feel comfortable enough to speak in the discussion and not feel judged. In many education classes we talk about an exit ticket for the day or week. I like that the article brought up the anonymous questionnaire for the students to fill out. I feel that would help us as teachers know how to approach the next discussion more successfully and allow us to grow with our students. There are many different questions you could ask to help the students grow, become more comfortable, and just have a better discussion for everyone. I think positive and negative feedback is very helpful for both the teacher and students. I also found the case study with Gary to be quite interesting. It seemed to me as if no one was actually listening to each other and they were judging too quickly. Some were trying to show off or have a story time and not answering the question. Maybe if Gary had done the circle of voices everyone could have had their thoughts heard about the topic instead of getting off track. I also think that there needed to be some ground rules. An example could be don’t accuse each other, try to ask questions. I think it’s really hard to say what Gary should have done since I wasn’t in his shoes and I haven’t really had time in a classroom with willful adults. Finally, I think as future teachers we also need to keep in mind how to structure the discussion and what questions to ask to keep it relevant and productive.