Discussion Toolkit

1. Discussion Toolkit

2. Why talk? An empty workbook, or lack of ‘product’ from a lesson, is often deemed a failure. This belief, supported as it is by much of the reporting and inspection process used to assess schools, can lead to the assumption that work or learning done in lessons should be tangible. There should be something to show. Much research and personal experience suggests that understanding does not stem solely – or necessarily most effectively – from writing or creating something. Therefore the assumption that learning, deep learning, must always be evidenced by a physical product is false. Lev Vygotsky, the Russian psychologist, wrote that speaking and thinking are intimately linked. The process of speaking helps us to learn by articulating our thoughts and developing the concepts we use to understand the world. Communication and understanding improve with practice. The opportunity to talk is therefore vital in order to develop understanding. Of course talk in itself is not simply enough – the talk must be focussed on what is desired to be developed. Just as an unfocussed piece of writing will lead to unfocussed results, so it is true of discussion and debate. The activities described in this toolkit are all intended to help facilitate and scaffold talk so that it is purposeful, structured (or deliberately unstructured) and appropriate to the students and setting. If nothing else, encouraging and valuing talk sends out a message that communication is important – both listening and speaking – and that it is a good end in itself.

3. Different Types of Talk Mercer (1995) identified three different types of talk: • Disputational (claim and then counterclaim) • Cumulative (repeat, confirm, elaborate) • Exploratory (critical and constructive) Disputational talk may have a place from time to time, however its argumentative style is unlikely to create a safe and comfortable environment. It may also make students feel reluctant to talk for fear of their personal positions being attacked. Cumulative talk is excellent for creating an accepting, safe atmosphere. Here, “speakers build on each other’s contributions, add information of their own and in a mutually supportive, uncritical way construct together a body of shared knowledge and understanding.” (Mercer, Words and Minds, 2000). Exploratory talk is the most effective for facilitating learning and ensuring progress. It involves a critical engagement with ideas in which reasoning, logic, evidence and exemplification are paramount.

4. Activities for discussion and debate Here are a selection of twenty-two approaches you can use to structure discussion and debate in the classroom. They can be used across the Grades and the curriculum. Circle TimePhilosophy for Children Rainbow GroupsSnowballing Pair Talk Listening Triad EnvoysJigsawing Value ContinuumHot Seating DistancingGoldfish Bowl Freeze FrameSix Thinking Hats Free DiscussionRadio Phone-In TV Chat ShowCircle of Voices Post-It DialoguesRotating Stations Think-Pair-Share3-Step Interview

5. Circle Time Purpose: Sharing ideas, experiences, feelings. Furthering understanding of self and others. Articulating group issues. Set Up: Everyone sits in a circle either on chairs or on the floor. There is an item (such as a hacky sack or a ball) that is held by whoever is speaking. How it works: The teacher sits on the same type of chair or cushion as everyone else. This helps to signal that what is happening is a special kind of classroom activity in which the teacher is a facilitator rather than a director. The teacher has a special responsibility of making sure that the structured rules of the Circle Time are stuck to, that everyone's emotions are protected and that suitable activities are prepared. The teacher must also be ready to draw a session to a close if students are persistently breaking the rules. The most important thing about the rules for circle time is that they should be discussed and agreed by all members. This is one of the first activities that should take place. Three basic rules which should be discussed are: • Only one person should speak at once - the talking object helps keep this rule. • You can "pass" if you don’t want to speak about something. • No put downs. Find Out More: http://www.circle-time.co.uk/site/home Return to contents

6. Philosophy for Children Purpose: P4C aims to encourage children (or adults) to think critically, caringly, creatively and collaboratively. It helps teachers to build a 'community of enquiry' where participants create and enquire into their own questions, and 'learn how to learn' in the process. (Will Ord - http://www.thinkingeducation.co.uk/p4c.htm) Set Up: Arrange the chairs in a circle and (if you feel it is required) have an item (such as a hacky sack or a ball) that is used to indicate who is speaking. Place stimulus material around the room for students to view. How it works: Introduce the topic and explain the process. Students begin by having a few minutes to look at some of the stimulus material. On returning to the circle they are given 1-2 minutes to think of questions related to the topic/stimulus they would like answered. These are shared and a vote is taken on which question to discuss. The teacher acts as a facilitator – reframing questions as required, posing developmental questions or mediating between the group to ensure that all can participate. Find Out More: http://www.sapere.org.uk/ Return to contents

7. Rainbow Groups Purpose: Encourages every child to listen (to their home group) and talk (to their colour group). Set Up: Standard group work set up with space to move around and discuss. How it works: Place students in groups with a topic (the same for all, or different topics) to discuss (this is their ‘home’ group). After discussion students are given a colour and regroup accordingly. The new groups should have a member from each of the ‘home’ groups. The students then take it in turns to report back what their groups discussed. This can then lead into a further discussion. Find Out More: http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/TALKrainbow.htm Return to contents

8. Snowballing Purpose: Encourages use of negotiation, empathy and reasoning. Set Up: Standard classroom for group work. How it works: First, students have to individually produce an answer. They then share it with a partner and turn their two answers into one agreed upon answer. The pair then joins up with another pair and repeats the process. This way, four answers are synthesized into one. e.g. First student chooses three things for an ideal life. Pair then discuss and synthesize their 6 down to three. The four does the same again. Return to contents

9. Pair Talk Purpose: To allow articulation of ideas, active listening and focussed discussion. Using pairs means all students have more opportunities to speak. It also makes life easier for those students who are less confident in larger groups. Set Up: It is best to have a little distance between each pair so as to reinforce the purpose of the activity and to discourage pairs from moving into conversation with other students. How it works: Use a stimulus, a specific question or a topic area for students to talk about. Model active listening and responding. Label students as A and B to keep them on topic if they are drifting off (i.e. ‘A is now listening and B is now talking’ and swap them over after sufficient time has passed). Ask students to come up with questions they want answered individually and to then discuss these in pairs. Set a target for pairs to achieve – i.e. produce an answer to X. Find Out More: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/language-assistant/primary-tips/working-pairs-groups Return to contents

10. Listening Triad Purpose: A structured means of eliciting information, developing concepts and understanding and processing what is said. It also promotes self-awareness through the role of the observer. Set Up: Students in threes, two sat facing, one slightly offset – not engaged but observing. How it works: Pupils work in groups of three. Students are given the roles of: talker, questioner and recorder. The talker explains something, comments on an issue or expresses an opinion. The questioner prompts and seeks clarification. The recorder makes notes and gives a report at the end of the conversation. Next time, the roles are changed. (from http://www.at-bristol.co.uk/cz/teachers/Debate%20formats.doc) Find Out More http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/glossary/l/listeningtriads.asp?strReferringChannel=learningaboutlearning Return to contents

11. Envoys Purpose: Active listening, public speaking and clarity of exposition, sharing and creating interdependence. Set Up: Pods around the room made up of groups of either 3 and 4 students. How it works: Once groups have carried out a task, one person from each group is selected as an ‘envoy’. They move to a new group and explain what their group has discussed. They also find out what the new group talked about. Envoys then return to their original groups and feedback on what they have found out. This is an effective way of avoiding tedious and repetitive ‘reporting back’ sessions. It also encourages the envoys to think about their use of language and helps to create groups of active listeners. (from http://www.at-bristol.co.uk/cz/teachers/Debate%20formats.doc) Find Out More http://schools.norfolk.gov.uk/index.cfm?s=1&m=1146&p=412,page&id=263 Return to contents

12. Jigsawing Purpose: A structured way of dealing with a series of questions which promotes team work. Set Up: Pods around the room made up of groups of either 3 and 4 students. How it works: The advantages of a ‘jigsaw’ are that it offers a structure for group work and that it promotes a range of speaking and listening skills. • The teacher divides the whole class into small groups (commonly four pupils per group). These are teacher-initiated in order to make each group reflect the balance of the whole class – gender, ability and attitude. • Each Home Group is given a common task. Hand-outs are employed in order to set the task. Reading material is kept to a manageable length. If the home groups are of four, then there are four questions or tasks within the main task – one for each member of the group. Questions or tasks are allocated within each group through negotiation between the pupils. • All the pupils who have selected a particular question or task regroup into Expert groups and work together on what is now a common problem. By the time this stage of the session is completed, each will have become an expert on the matter through discussion and collaboration with the other ‘experts’. • The original groups now re-form. Dissemination begins, with members taking it in turns to share their expert knowledge. The home groups are then set a final task. This could be require a group response, or responses from each individual. The crucial element is to ensure that pupils have to draw on the combined ‘wisdom’ of the home group in order to complete it successfully. (from http://www.at-ristol.co.uk/cz/teachers/Debate%20formats.doc) Return to contents Find Out More: http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/jigsaw.html

13. Value Continuum Purpose: To express opinions, show values, discuss differences of opinion and engage in public discussion. Set Up: Use a piece of rope or string for the continuum; have arrows pointing on the board; place the two extremes of opinion on opposite walls. How it works: In this format students or groups of students have to respond to a thought provoking statement by saying to what degree they agree with it. There are a number of ways this can be used: the students could be asked to come and stand at the point on a line which represents their individual opinion. Alternatively, they could be asked to discuss a statement in groups before one of the group comes up to the front and places their groups card/token somewhere along the line, explaining the position their group have taken as they do. This is an excellent format for comparing responses to different questions and exploring arguments, contradictions and assumptions. (from http://www.at-ristol.co.uk/cz/teachers/Debate%20formats.doc) Find Out More http://www.english-teaching.co.uk/learninglearning/valuecontinuumpg.pdf Return to contents

14. Hot Seating Purpose: A dramatic device which encourages empathy, is a means of ‘realising’ content, and which promotes probing questioning and detailed reasoning. Set Up: One student sits at the front with a semi-circle or audience of chairs facing them. How it works: One student comes to the front of the class, expresses their opinion and responds to questioning on a particular topic. It can be altered by having students take on specific viewpoints or personas so as to make the experience less personal, or more engaged with the content. For example the students may play the role of a specific character or type of person (for example: Barack Obama or a young single mother). Find Out More http://www.thinkinghistory.co.uk/ActivityModel/ActModHotSeat.html Return to contents

15. Distancing Purpose: To deal with sensitive, emotional or controversial issues. Set Up: Nothing specific How it works: Use narrative, drama, role-play and so on to distance students from sensitive, emotional or controversial topics. For example, rather than asking them to discuss their feelings on bereavement outright, you may use a narrative from a bereaved young person and then ask students to discuss how that person may have felt. Find Out More http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/eyewitness/learning/pdfs/tr_difference.pdf (Lesson 2) Return to contents

16. Goldfish Bowl Purpose: Gives opportunities for group presentation of ideas, development of reasoning, analytical questioning and the exchange of ideas. Set Up: Chairs at the front of the room for the group who will be speaking; the rest of class arranged as an audience. How it works: It is like hot-seating except a whole group comes to the front to express their views. They are in the goldfish bowl, with other students being able to question them, push for clarification and so on. Find Out More http://www.xpday.org/session_formats/goldfish_bowl Return to contents

17. Freeze Frame Purpose: A kinaesthetic activity which can aid discussion. Set Up: Start in a circle and then break out into pods – make sure there is plenty of space in which to work. How it works: Students are asked to create a freeze frame of a topic, story or statement. A freeze frame is a point at which the ‘camera’ has stopped – it has a before and after that are not seen by the audience (hence it is different from a still image). Groups then show their freeze frame to the rest of the class who guess what it is and then go on to discuss the issues arising from it. Find Out More http://www.lgec.org.uk/LagaNews/jun04tool.pdf Return to contents

18. Six Thinking Hats Purpose: To break thinking down into different parts in order to discuss ideas more effectively and to be more aware of the influences on one’s own thought. Set Up: Nothing specific. How it works: There are six hats, each representing a different element of thinking. Students are given a hat (real or imaginary) and asked to think through the discussion using that hat. The idea is to create a map covering all the different elements of an issue or idea. The class could be divided into different hats and the teacher manages the discussion. Find Out More http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats Return to contents

19. Free Discussion Purpose: It encourages responsibility and is student lead (avoiding too much focus on the teacher). Set Up: Groups or a whole class in a circle, pods or sat at tables. How it works: This can be done with smaller groups or the whole class. As it is not structured this sort of discussion may require a greater level of facilitation. This can be the teacher or session leader for the whole group. if there are a number of groups however, staffing levels may not allow a facilitator for each group. In this case one option may be to ask one of the students in each group to act as a facilitator, this is probably a technique to use once the students have experienced positive models of how a facilitator should act and have discussed key aspects of behavior which the role requires. (From http://www.at-ristol.co.uk/cz/teachers/Debate%20formats.doc) Return to contents

20. Radio Phone-In Purpose: To promote active listening, and to show many sides of a discussion. Set Up: Teacher (or student) Is the radio host with four guests (students) and an audience (rest of class). How it works: There is a topic to discuss, led by the radio host. The four guests receive role-play cards and are asked to take on that character for the discussion. Audience peer assesses, ‘rings-in’ or ‘emails’ with questions, takes notes with a listening frame and then votes on which perspective they most agree with. Return to contents

21. TV Chat Show Purpose: Lots of speaking and listening, visual as well as auditory, and an easy reference point for lots of students (and teachers!). Set Up: Depends what chat show you want to mimic. How it works: The teacher is the host with students as different characters discussing a topic. The audience (the rest of the class) ask questions, get involved in the discussion, peer-assess and so on. Could be Oprah, Ricki Lake, Montel–style etc. A panel show, family feud, revelations, interview-theme etc. Find out more http://www.tweakit.co.uk/attachments/chatshow.pdf Return to contents

22. Circle of Voices Purpose: To generate ideas, develop listening skills, to allow all students to participate, and to equalize the learning environment. Set Up: Moveable chairs are preferable. How it works: This method involves students taking turns to speak. Students form circles of four or five. They are given a topic and allowed a few minutes to organize their thoughts about it. The discussion then begins, with each student having up to three minutes (or choose a different length) of uninterrupted time to speak. During this time, no one else is allowed to say anything. After everyone has spoken once, open up the floor within the subgroups for general discussion. Specify that students should only build on what someone else has said, not on their own ideas; also, at this point, they should not introduce new ideas (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999) . (all from http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/teaching_tips/Other/gw_types_of_small_groups.pdf.pdf ) Return to contents Find Out More http://stephenbrookfield.com/pdf_files/Discussion_Materials.pdf

23. Post-It Dialogues • Purpose: • Public discussion which doesn’t necessarily involve having to speak publicly; visual, kinaesthetic and auditory elements; good for having something tangible to discuss ‘around’. • Set Up: • Post-it notes for each student, space to move around. • How it works: • Lots of different ways: • You could have a few large sheets of paper with statements or questions written on them. Students read these and post relevant comments. • Groups of 3/4/5 have to answer a question on Post-Its, or produce comments about a topic, which they then have to share, discuss or present to the whole class. • You could write a question or statement on the board and invite students to comment on Post-It notes which they then stick onto the board. Return to contents

24. Rotating Stations Purpose: Build on others’ ideas, cover a topic or question holistically, and activity which is active and pacey. Set Up: A series of stations around the room with stimulus material, large sheets of paper and pens (or give each group a different coloured pen to carry round with them – therefore keeping track of who has contributed what). How it works: Locate each small group at a station and give them 5 minutes to discuss a provocative issue. They should record their ideas on the large sheet of paper. When the time is up, the groups move to the next new station in the classroom where they continue their discussion, based on the ideas they encounter from the previous group (written on the paper). Rotations continue every 5 minutes until each group has been to all of the stations and has had a chance to consider all of the other groups' comments. (from http://drscavanaugh.org/discussion/inclass/discussion_formats.htm) Return to contents

25. Think-Pair-Share Purpose: A structured way of developing thoughts and ideas. Set Up: Nothing specific How it works: See below Find out more http://www.eazhull.org.uk/nlc/think,_pair,_share.htm Return to contents

26. Three-Step Interview Purpose: A structured way of developing thoughts and ideas. Set Up: Groups of four students. How it works: Divide the four-member groups into two pairs: A and B, C and D. In step 1, A interviews B while C interviews D. In step 2, reverse roles: B interviews A while D interviews C. In step 3, the groups share their findings: each person takes it in turn to share the information they obtained from their partner. (From http://drscavanaugh.org/discussion/inclass/discussion_formats.htm ) Find Out More http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/act/strategies/three_step_interview.htm Return to contents