Many teachers think of good discussions as arising from “teachable moments,” when students come to class excited or concerned about a hot topic in the news. But research indicates that this is not the case. While students and teachers may be highly engaged in such discussions, whether they deepen their understanding or advance their deliberation skills is highly suspect.

Rather, the research indicates that the quality of discussion is higher when teachers and students prepare carefully for the discussion.

How Should Teachers Prepare for Discussion?

A key part of a teacher’s preparation for discussion is to select an issue and frame an opening question that will prompt discourse. Questions for which there is a single right answer are not discussable. Open-ended questions that draw out multiple perspectives and prompt students to analyze and compare those perspectives are more likely to provoke high-quality discussion.

Another aspect of the teacher’s preparation is to choose a discussion model that meets his/her goals and determine how best to introduce the model and its required skills to students.

Finally, teachers must locate materials that will provide students with the knowledge base required for high-quality discussion. The materials must be balanced—that is, multiple perspectives on the issue must be presented—as well as age-appropriate. Materials should provide factual background as well as well-reasoned positions.

If students are going to locate their own background materials, teachers must prepare them to evaluate the sources they find and to distinguish between well-supported arguments and well-articulated rants.

How Should Students Prepare for Discussion?

According to Diana Hess, the key aspect of preparation for students is to “become acquainted with the discussion topic and engage in enough initial thinking about it to have something to say” (“Discussion in Social Studies: Is It Worth the Trouble?” Social Education, February 2004, pp. 151-155).

Many teachers require students to complete a “ticket” that documents their preparation. The ticket may be answers to two or three questions about the reading material assigned by the teacher or a formal reading guide, as in the civil conversation model. The reason for requiring the ticket is to ensure that students bring some knowledge and thought to the discussion. Students who do not have the ticket cannot participate in the discussion; while many teachers fear that the number of nonparticipants will be large, teacher Lori Mable has found that few students come to class without their tickets once they have experienced a high-quality discussion. Pick an opinion column from the editorial page of your local newspaper. Practice framing a question that you would use to open discussion on the topic of the column. Design a “ticket” that you would require students to bring to the discussion on this topic.