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Disadvantages:
“Race, class, [gender] and culture frame how people
interpret, understand, and explain others’ words and actions.
The fewer values, assumptions, and beliefs shared by a group
of people who gather to talk, the harder it is for them to understand
one another.”
--Brookfield and Preskill, 129 (see resources).
Participation in discussion is generally very uneven, with
some students rarely speaking and others dominating. At times,
sensitive issues may come up which make some students uncomfortable.
We should try to think about, and if possible discover in our
individual classes, who is going to be more or less comfortable
participating in discussions and why.
Tips on how to get more balanced participation:
-Acknowledge potential discomfort or conflict
-Allow students to introduce/name selves (in what ways are you
a “typical” college student and in what ways are
you not typical? Age, background, interest, etc.)
-Foreground your reasons for using discussion
-Use the “perception check”: ask students how they
feel
-Have students evaluate/respond to discussions and activities
(anonymously)
-Emphasize listening skills
-BE COMFORTABLE WITH SILENCE (when students don’t respond
right away, they may be thinking! Try to avoid answering your
own questions)
-Establish discussion from the very start of the semester
-Change formats to prevent natural “talkers” from
dominating (e.g. small group discussions; roundtables in which
all must contribute one thing and one thing only).
-Clarify student responsibility: not just to speak but to listen
and to build connections with what others say.
-Make what happens in discussion fair game for tests and allow
it to be included, with proper credit, in papers and projects.
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