Creating Discussion in a High School

Creating a successful environment for discussion is difficult at the high school level. Since discussion involves issues that are touchy for many students, high schoolers are prone to freezing up and not daring to open themselves up to criticism. It’s easy for a writer to discuss how easily changed he has been by a discussion with his college students and how strongly they spoke and how well informed they were. At the high school level, it takes far more guidance and coaxing to create the level of discussion that is talked about in this article.

That being said however, discussion is still undeniably important. The idea that discussion brings a sense of “we” out of a sense of “they” is the most crucial aspect of “Discussion as A Way of Teaching.” Too many of my students are dead set in their way by senior year and will turn a cold shoulder to a new idea. This makes the atmosphere of the classroom even more important. And because it is not a college class this can take a substantial amount of effort from the teacher. I once had a high school teacher who would take the opposing stance to the students as quickly as she could. If someone made a political point in class, she was quick to find a fallacy in their argument and make the class think of ways to support her or fight back. It made some students who would otherwise be unchallenged have to work to prove a point and it made some students rise up to defend what they hadn’t before.

That class was a prime example of a teacher working hard every day to make sure that discussion was real. It’s a nearly impossible feat some days. Especially at 8am when no one wants to open their eyes or their mouths, but with a strong leader and a little coffee, the best discussions can happen, even in a stubborn class of 18 year olds.