All of us dream of a classroom in which students are engaged 100% of the time. This in turn would make class discussions rich and entertaining, where the teacher is on the sidelines and students are free to assert their thoughts and opinions. Too often, however, class discussions are led almost entirely by the teacher. The teacher poses a question, such as "Does anyone know what it means to be and the student(s) responds only if they are certain they know the "right" answer (AKA what they think the teacher wants to hear).
This may seem like a success to some teachers. If one student can respond with the "right" answer, all of the other students will hear this answer and comprehend it in the 15 seconds it takes to pose and answer the question, right??? NO. Through these types of discussions, the teaching is being validated, but is the learning? NO!!!
For students that are confident in their answers to these types of questions and like to share out to the class, it gives them more opportunities to share in class. For students that know the answers but are not as willing to share, it gives them a way out of participating. For students that simply do not know the answer, it does not keep them accountable for their learning.
In her article "Authentic Student-Led Discussion, Music to My Ears", Starr Sackstein writes that "fostering student voice means forcing them to be certain as they assert their ideas. Doesn't matter what the teacher thinks, only maters what they think in this scenario".
I love the idea of the teachers asking questions they do not know the answer. For some students, this takes off the pressure of having the perfect answer when sharing with the class. For other students, it gives them more freedom to go above and beyond where the teacher thought the conversation might go. I have found again and again that when I pose questions to my class that I do not know the answer to, I am surprised by how profound some of their answers are. They often contribute ideas and thoughts to the discussion that I had not even considered.
Most teachers are not naturals at fostering these types of discussions right away. Sackstein writes that when done correctly, student-let authentic discussions "are vibrant with opinions and support from the text and they engage a larger number of students". But at their worst, these discussions "can be exclusive and controlled by a few more aggressive participants".
It takes practice to become skilled and natural at leading student-led authentic discussions and teaching students how to do these without completely steering the conversation. In order to do this, teachers have to take several things into account.
One major element to consider is the personality of the class as a whole. Are they very chatty and willing to share their ideas? Or, are they quiet and not confident in their answers until they can discuss with shoulder partners to see what their peers' thoughts are?
Peter Smagorinsky lists several strategies in his text Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry out Instructional Units. One that might work for students in my classes is the fishbowl. In this strategy, there are several students in a center circle of the room that are given prompts to respond to. Students outside of the circle take notes and listen actively. Each student is given at least one opportunity to sit in the fishbowl. According to Smagorinsky, fishbowls "have the potential to move outside the boundaries of conventional interpretation and allow students to discuss the literature on their own terms" (Smargorinsky 34).
This strategy might be ideal for students in my class that need extra think time to piece their thoughts together or just need to hear other peers' opinions before they feel confidence to voice their own. Students that might struggle with this strategy are ones that continually have something to say and like to be heard.
Although this strategy may not be perfect for every single student in the class, it allows them opportunities to learn how to participate in student-led authentic discussions in which the teacher is the observer and is not there to tell them if their answers are right or wrong.
Sources cited:
Sackstein, Starr. "Authentic Student-Led Discussion, Music to My Ears." Education Week. Editorial Projects in Enducation, 6 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry out Instructional Units. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008. Print.
