Contents Foreword? Diana E. Hess? vii Acknowledgments? xi Introduction? Jane C. Lo? 1 Part I: Engaging in Classroom Discussions 1.? Guiding Principles for Using Classroom Discussion? 11 Bruce E. Larson 2.? Preparing Teachers for Current and Controversial Issue Discussion? 27 Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Mary Ellen Daneels, and Noorya Hayat 3.? Supporting Civic Discussions With Younger Students? 44 Terence A. Beck Part II: Unpacking Well-Known Discussion Techniques in the Social Studies 4.? Socratic Seminar: Learning With and From Each Other While Interpreting Complex Text? 63 Jada Kohlmeier 5.? Structured Academic Controversy: What It Can Be? 73 Walter C. Parker 6.? Structure Matters: Comparing Deliberation and Debate? 90 Paula McAvoy and Arine Lowery 7.? Document-Based Discussions in History: Orienting Students to the Discipline? 106 Abby Reisman 8.? Embedding Discussion Throughout Inquiry? 124 Maria del Mar Estrada Rebull, Chauncey Monte-Sano, Amanda Jennings, and Jeff Kabat Part III: Expanding Toward More Equitable Discussions 9.? Talking Politics Online: Educating for Online Civic and Political Dialogue? 143 Erica Hodgin 10.? The Structures We Live In: Discussing Racialization of Neighborhoods to Transform the Null Curriculum? 161 Jacob S. Bennett, H. Richard Milner IV, and Bryant O. Best 11.? Get Out of Your Own Way: Sharing Power to Engage Students of Color in Authentic Conversations of Social Inequity? 176 Dane Stickney, Elizabeth Milligan Cordova, and Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado 12.? Supporting Youth to Engage in Authentic Civic Dialogue in Our "Actually Existing" Democracy? 192 Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia Concluding Thoughts? 209 Jane C. Lo Appendix A: Pledge of Allegiance Mini Unit? 215 Appendix B: Ticket to Pledge Seminar? 217 Appendix C: Pledge Discussion Guide? 219 Appendix D: The Pledge of Allegiance Supreme Court Cases? 223 Appendix E: You Be the Judge: Frazier v. Winn? 225 About the Editor and Contributors? 229 Index? 235
For the past 2 decades, the field of social studies education has seen an increase in research on the use of discussions as an essential instructional technique. This book examines the importance of using quality dialogue as a tool to help students understand complex issues in social studies. This edited volume provides a collection of well-known, evidence-based discussion techniques, as well as classroom examples showing the methods in use. While using discussion as an instructional method is widely considered a best practice of civic learning, actual high-quality discussions are rare and notoriously difficult to facilitate. Making Classroom Discussions Work is designed to guide teacher educators and classroom teachers in facilitating equitable and productive discussions that will boost learning and democratic engagement. Book Features: Emphasizes the rationale for using discussion in social studies teaching. Collects strategies that have been proposed in disparate journal articles and books in one convenient volume. Presents research-based challenges and supports for conducting and assessing discussions in the social studies. Includes methods and tips to help teachers make discussions more equitable in their classrooms.
Jane C. Lo is an assistant professor of teacher education at Michigan State University.