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The goals of EDF 5607 make discussion a natural center of the course. In EDF 5607, we tie together core ideas in the social foundations area with hot topics in education. Because the focus of any social foundations course is the development of social-science and humanities perspectives on education, passive absorption of material and activities that are completed in isolation or as rote exercises would undermine the objectives of EDF 5607 unless accompanied by dialog.
Brookfield and Preskill (2005) describe 15 ways that discussion can help courses, several of which are key to EDF 5607:
In the course, discussion includes any activity with dialogue among several classmates. I expect all students to engage in opportunities I provide for discussion, because discussion is the best way to develop your understanding of the material and your skills in working with key ideas in the course. Because of the reciprocal nature of discussion (you rely on each other), I will hold you responsible for being present in one of the weekly chats. But I will not grade the content of what you write in Blackboard's discussion board or the weekly chat. (You are responsible for the Weekly Synthesis, which requires paying close attention to the discussion.)
Source: Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill, Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms (2nd ed.) (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005). Many of their ideas are incorporated throughout the course discussion design.
I have a few principles to guide discussion this semester: preparation, engagement, listening, and respect. If everyone follows those (and we will discuss them explicitly), discussion will be fruitful
The first principle is preparation: learn and think about the relevant issues before discussion opens. Obviously, preparation includes having completed the assigned reading that corresponds with a particular topic. Does it include more? My colleagues and I frequently talk about "critical reading skills" that encourage students to identify assumptions as well as arguments, evaluate as well as understand evidence, and understand the contribution that a particular reading makes. But I'm no longer a student in a formal sense.
Therefore, one discussion topic the very first week is how to read the materials. As graduate students (or perhaps an advanced undergraduate), you have all read material such as what I assign. You all have strategies for reading critically, and as a class you will develop an explicit protocol to help make sure everyone is prepared for discussion.
The second principle of discussion is engagement: stay involved in the discussion! Engagement means being in the discussion, paying close attention to the issues and also the dynamics.
You don't have to be writing constantly to be engaged. Sometimes, we participate actively. Sometimes, we sit back, observe, and wait for an opportunity to contribute. The importance of different types of contribution are why students will rotate roles in discussion during the semester.
The third principle of discussion is listening: you are responsible for grasping the perspective of others as you are for articulating your own. Listening isn't listed in Bloom's taxonomy of knowledge, but understanding someone's perspective is as important a type of knowledge as anything Bloom mentioned, even though it is relational. Have you ever seen a book review or movie review where you thought, "The reviewer didn't read/watch what I did?" Sometimes reviewers "go off on their own riffs" without listening for the author's voice.
To listen well, we need to pay attention to perspective, language, potential differences in experiences and knowledge, and then consider potential assumptions, evidentiary bases, and so forth. We can also check how well we're listening by paraphrasing our understanding and asking for feedback: "Is this what you mean... ?"
The fourth principle of discussion is respect: treat your classmates' ideas as serious contributions. Respect requires engagement, listening, and thoughtful response.
Sometimes people confuse tolerance with respect. I tolerate my daughter's toad when he jumps on me (he's cute), but that's not respect. Respect requires attention to someone's ideas as well as to their being a person. (Sometimes the latter is harder in an online environment, and that's why flaming is both tempting when you're not face-to-face with someone and dangerous.) Below are some suggestions for positive responses to classmate contributions.
However, respect is not the same as agreement or blind encouragement. Think for a minute about a time when you may have felt that you didn't really belong in a program, class, or a discussion. Most of us have felt occasionally like imposters who needed to be wary of unmasking. When teachers or classmates belittle our ideas, we're more likely to feel like imposters. Treating classmates' ideas as worthy of a substantive response, including disagreement, helps remove such feelings of impostership. You show respect for someone—as a person who can think and make decisions—when you are willing to engage her or him in discussion on serious matters. To ignore or paper over disagreements is not necessarily respectful. Obviously, not just any disagreement is respectful. I provide some suggestions for constructive disagreement later on this page.
During the semester, I will ask members of the class to take different roles in the live chats. (I'll tell you your role as you join the chat.) Sometimes I will ask you to initiate a discussion, while other times I will ask you to respond or to observe and reflect.
One important role in discussion is initiation: starting off discussion on a topic by forcefully stating an opinion, raising a question, or otherwise directing conversation. Initiation can be argumentative but it doesn't have to. You can initiate a discussion thread by synthesizing course materials and asking for feedback. You can raise a question (and no questions are stupid). You can make an observation about the course materials or use prior discussion as a springboard for the current one.
Another important role in discussion is response. If I ask you to respond during a live chat, it means that I want you to connect your comments to another comment previously made so that we have a continuous discussion. Responding requires listening (or the equivalent in a chat) and thinking about connections. "I agree" is not a substantive response; "I agree, and let me give you an example from a different field..." is a constructive response. "I think I disagree but let me make sure I understand what you mean..." is another constructive response.
The final role I will discuss is that of observer. If I ask you to observe for most of a live chat it means that I want you to pay attention to the broader dynamics:
Twice during each hour, I will ask everyone else to hold off while it's an observer's time to talk. When it's your time as an observer, you have free rein to discuss the broader dynamics you've noticed. Summarize an important argument you've identified. Explain the patterns of (dis)agreement. Point out what remains unclear. Tell us what we've missed and suggest new directions. All of these statements are useful for discussion. Then, at the end of a chat, it will be an observer's responsibility to make final comments. (I don't get the last word; one of you does.)
The following are some options for responding to classmates' contributions, drawn from Brookfield and Preskill:
As explained above, respectful discussion involves an open exchange when classmates disagree. The following is a smörgåsbord of follow-ups that you can use to help generate productive discussion when you disagree with a classmate:
The point here is neither to encourage or discourage disagreement but to make it productive where it exists.
Sometimes, there might be incidents in a discussion that you want to provide your perspective on outside the general discussion. You can always e-mail me, but there are also three ways to provide anonymous feedback to help with discussion.
Every week, students will send a brief e-mail to one classmate who will compile the responses for me. While one classmate will see your comments, I won't be able to link you to them. Here are the questions:
One of the discussion board forums is "Class process issues," and you can always make an anonymous comment there.
There are a number of anonymous e-mail services available online. Go ahead and use them; anonymous comments about class dynamics generally help the course.