Powerful Classroom Discussions
PD 6/2/2016
Ideas are from the book, Questioning for Classroom Discussion: Purposeful Speaking, Engaged Listening, Deep Thinking by Jackie Walsh and Beth Sattes.
Why Should We Place Greater Emphasis on Questioning for Discussion in Our Classrooms?
1. Research-based: discussion creates better student engagement, higher level thinking, and better student outcomes
2. Questioning and discussion are prominent in Teaching and Learning Standards
3. Discussion is an important component in frameworks used for teacher evaluation (like Danielson 3b: questioning and discussion)
Distinguishing Between Questioning for Recitation and Questioning for Discussion
Questioning for recitation involves a teacher initiated question, student response, and teacher evaluation of that response. Recitation can be important for teaching, but it has a different purpose. The purposes of questioning in recitation include:
- develop foundational knowledge and skills
- provide drill and practice opportunities
- check for understanding by generating formative feedback for teacher and student
- cue students on what's important to know
Questioning for discussion helps to build and deepen understanding and often occurs after students have mastered core content. The purposes of questioning for discussion include:
- personalize meaning and connect to prior understandings
- extend or deepen thinking
- deepen understanding of concepts by questioning and making new connections
- listen in order to appreciate diverse points of view
- learn how to disagree in a civil manner
- reflect on one's own and others' beliefs
- develop a life skill important for working in groups
Questioning to Promote Thoughtful Discussion
Questions for discussion:
- are "true" or authentic questions
- are open-ended and divergent- not convergent
- stimulate responses at higher cognitive levels: (apply, analyze, evaluate, create)
- engage students personally and emotionally
The teacher poses one question for discussion; other questions emerge from both the students and the teacher.
Develop Norms for Discussion With Students - Promote Equitable Participation
- No hand raising - speak as you are motivated to speak without raising your hand
- Talk to one another - not the teacher
- share what you are thinking so others can learn from you
- monitor your talk so as not to monopolize the conversation
- listen to others respectfully, asking questions to understand
- encourage others to speak, particularly those who are not participating
Structures that Scaffold Equitable Participation
- student trackers - assign a couple students to keep track of who has spoken and to encourage those who have not with prompts such as, "what are you thinking about this?"
- fishbowl - limited number of students sit in inner circle and engage in discussion (5-7) while students in outer circle listen actively and take notes. Students from outer circle could also keep track of how much everyone talks in inner circle to discuss after.
- short-answer round-robin - each student is expected to quickly respond in a few words to a prompt (e.g. one adjective that best describes his or her personal response to a given topic)
- small-group protocols - students first learn to participate in discussion in pairs, then small groups, building up to discussions in larger groups
- limitations on participation - each student is given a limited number of tokens to "spend" during a discussion. Each time they speak they give a token and when they are gone, they are no longer eligible to contribute orally to the conversation. This could be done using a deck of playing cards, for example.
5 Stages of the Discussion Process
1. PREPARING
- frame focus questions
- determine which skills and dispositions to spotlight
- assign students prep work
- select participation structures
- consider organizational issues
2. OPENING
- review norms or guidelines
- focus on targeted skills and dispositions
- begin the play
- present the question for discussion
3. SUSTAINING
- listen to understand
- scaffold with questions or statements
- monitor to ensure equitable participation
4. CLOSING
- assist group in consolidating thinking
- help discussants identify emerging or unanswered questions
5. REFLECTING
- facilitate individual student reflection and self-assessment
- lead group in assessing collaborative processes
- reflect on the quality of the focus question and the dynamics of the discussion