Discussion

Given all the talk that goes on in all the classrooms in the world, one would imagine that a tremendous range of discussion practices would develop and flourish in schools. However, observers find that classroom discourse tends to be very much the same: teachers initiate exchanges with comments or questions; students respond with answers; teachers evaluate student responses. This pattern of initiating questions, responses, and evaluations (variously coded) is known as the recitation model and represents the underlying structure of most lessons.

Although useful for covering factual information quickly, recitation does not approach true discussion. Students have no opportunity to control the topic or to turn the talk to novel directions as suggested by their thinking. Teachers who move their classes beyond recitation into forms of talk that approach discussion help their students discover talk as a tool for thinking.

Helping students learn how to participate in good discussions is important. Students may come in to class with little experience of classroom discourse other than the recitation model. Therefore, teachers need to "get out of the way of student discussion" without retreating entirely. They should be ready to offer support to developing discussions so that all students can participate fruitfully.

Teachers can do several things to promote discussion. First, they can keep in mind the general direction in that they would move the class. Instead of the teacher (T) - student (S) - teacher (T) interchanges of recitation, they would move toward something like T-S-S-S-T-S-S-S-S on their way to student-directed discussions. Teachers can facilitate this by calling on several students at once, directing speakers to call on the next responder, and encouraging students not to raise hands to gain the floor but simply to be attentive to who wants to get in on the discussion. Also, to encourage students to listen carefully to other student speakers, the teacher can avoid repeating student comments while asking speakers to summarize the comments of the previous speaker. Finally, room arrangements can also help or hinder discussion. It is difficult even for experienced, active students to hold a discussion seated in rows. Circles encourage more involvement by all students in the classroom.

Finally, many observers of classroom interaction agree that the biggest impediment to discussion is the teacher. Teachers tend to ask factual questions where discussion is unnecessary and undesirable. They too often run the lesson at a such a fast pace (one second or less of wait time) that the student thinking never has a chance to take root. In their eagerness to "help the class get the point" of a student's comment, they may take the discussion away from the students in order to turn student comments towards teacher ends. However, teachers who reflect on their behavior in managing discussions have altered these behaviors and generally report that the class responds well to increased wait time, more student control, and student ownership of ideas. With patient scaffolding, both the teacher and students can approach true discussion even in a rectitation-centered class.