Brookfield's "Discussion as a Way of Teaching"

Discussion as a method for teaching can be an effective and invaluable strategy in the classroom environment. It allows students to convey and articulate ideas and further their understanding of ideas and material. Conversation in the classroom enables the teacher to encourage the growth, enrichment, and development of their students, and allows ideas to flourish. Additionally, utilizing conversation in the classroom allows students to learn from and assist their peers, encouraging students to develop their skills and knowledge within the classroom.

One of the most important things to understand is why discussion and conversation as an instructional strategy can fail within the classroom. There are several common factors that contribute to discussion failing within the classroom environment. However, these common factors are all things that can be easily addressed. One such common problem is the lack of teacher guidance in classroom discussion. Frequently students lack guidance in what questions to ask. Students can lack information necessary to have a meaningful discussion on a given topic, which can also cause discussion to fail. By having teachers provide examples and model discussion for students, they’re able to better understand how to better use conversation as a learning strategy.

As a teacher, having structure to conversations can also help to establish the flow of conversations. Another problem with discussion in the classroom is the dependency on student involvement. Having strategies in place so everyone gets an opportunity to speak and participate in classroom discussions is important. By assigning roles to students and giving students a chance to speak before having an open discussion are both valid strategies that can be used to make discussion an effecting teaching method.

Using discussion in the classroom can be an effective teaching tool if used properly. While there are some shortcomings that exist when using this strategy in the classroom, discussion can also enrich and improve the education of the students in your classroom. Students benefit from discussing material in the classroom, and can encourage the growth and development of ideas.