The Dreaded Discussion: Ten Ways to Start Peter Frederick The only privilege a student had that was worth his claiming, was that of talking to the professor, and the professor was bound to encourage it. His only difficulty on that side was to get them to talk at all. He had to devise schemes to find what they were thinking about, and induce them to risk criticism from their fellows. --The Education of Henry Adams The conspiracy of silence is breaking up: we are learning to talk more openly about our joys and fears as teachers, our achievements and frustrations in the classroom. As I have listened to my colleagues talk about their students and their classrooms, the one fear and frustration mentioned more than any other, as for Henry Adams, was in leading a discussion. No matter how many articles on technique we read, or workshops we attend, the dreaded discussion continues to bother us more than any other part of our daily teaching lives. Freshman seminar and discussion-based core programs continue to develop. Pressures not only to "do more discussion" but to do it well, reinforced by student evaluations and faculty development centers, do not go away. We are learning, alas, that to walk into class and hold up one's copy of the assigned text, asking, "How'd you like it?" does not necessarily guarantee an enthusiastic, rewarding discussion. We need, first of all, to acknowledge our fears in facing discussion classes: The terror of silences, the related challenges of the shy and dominant student, the overly-long dialogue between ourself and one combative student, the problems of digression and transitions, student fear of criticism, and our own fear of having to say "I don't know." Worst of all, perhaps, is the embarrassment of realizing, usually in retrospect, that "about half way through the period I lapsed, again, into lecture." I suspect that our fears about discussion (and our lapses) have a great deal to do with the issue of who controls the classroom. Although psychologically rooted, the control issue is best dealt with as a nitty-gritty practical question of how to plan and how to begin. My first assumption is that an effective discussion, like most anything, depends upon good planning. The content goals for any given class period usually suggest employing different teaching strategies. We would like to be able to select from among many discussion possibilities with confidence. The purpose of this article is to expand the range of the options by describing very precisely several different ways of starting a discussion. Like Henry Adams, we "devise schemes" to find out what our students are thinking. The following assumptions and principles about discussions guide my particular schemes: § Because we have much to learn from each other, all must be encouraged to participate.§ It is important to devise ways in which each student has something to say, especially early in the class period. § Students should be expected to do some (often highly structured) thinking about a text or issue before the discussion class begins. § Students should know and feel comfortable with each other and with the teacher. As Carl Rogers and others keep reminding us, learning is aided perhaps most of all by the quality of personal relationships. § Those relationships are enhanced by a climate of trust, support, acceptance, and respect: even "wrong" answers are legitimate. § A student's self-image is always affected by his or her participation in discussions: feedback, therefore, is crucial for self-esteem. § The primary goal in any discussion is to enhance the understanding of some common topic or "text" (in the broadest sense). § Different kinds of texts, purposes, and faculty teaching styles suggest using different kinds of discussion schemes. My hope and expectation is that other teachers will adapt these suggestions and devise schemes for their own texts, purpose, and teaching styles. (1) Goals and Values Testing The students are asked to pair off and decide together what they think is the primary value of the particular text for the day, and how their consideration of it meshes with course goals. "Why are we reading this?" "Why now?" After five minutes or so, invite reactions. It is not necessary to hear from each pair, but hearing from a few provides a public reality test for the teacher's course goals ("is this text serving the purpose I had hoped it would?"), as well as providing a mutual basis for further probing into the text. An alternative initial question for the pairs is to ask for a list of relationships (comparisons and contrasts) between this text and another, usually the most recent one. Make the instructions explicit: "identify three themes common to both texts"; "suggest the two most obvious differences between the two texts"; "which did you like best and why?"; "make a list of as many comparisons (or contrasts) as you can in ten minutes." In this case, in order to benefit from the richness of diversity, as well as to confirm similar insights, it is probably best to check in with each pair. (2) Concrete Images It is obvious, of course, that discussions go better when specific references are made. Yet I think we often need help remembering the content of our text. A few minutes at the beginning can guarantee that the sophisticated analysis we seek will be based on specific facts. Go around the table and ask each student to state one concrete image/scene/event/moment from the text that stands out. No analysis is necessary, just recollections and brief description. As each student reports, the collective images are listed on the board, thus providing a visual record of selected content from the text as a backdrop to the following discussion. Usually the recall of concrete scenes prompts further recollections, and a flood of images flows from the students. A follow-up question is to invite the class to study the items on the board, and ask: "what themes seem to emerge from these items?"; "what connects these images?"; "is there a pattern to ourrecollected events?"; "what is missing?" This is, obviously, an inductive approach to the text. Facts precede analysis. But also, everyone gets to say something early in class and every contribution gets written down to aid our collective memory and work. (3) Generating Questions We have our own important questions to ask about a text. And we should ask them. But students also have their questions and they can learn