Adapted from Robert Fisher, Teaching Children to Learn Stanley Thornes, Cheltenham 1995. Chapter 4: Discussing 

For a lot of the time in teaching, the teacher has the role of an expert. We have to:

• get the attention of the learners
• keep them focused on the learning task
• explain things they do not know
• demonstrate things for them
• guide their learning by asking questions. 

Usually in a classroom, the teacher does most of the talking. Learners only talk if the teacher asks them a question or if they have a question to ask.   In these cases, the learner usually talks to the teacher, not to other learners.  Moreover, learners are often afraid that they will say something that makes them look stupid, so they are unwilling to talk when they feel insecure. 

In order for a classroom discussion to work well, the learners must feel comfortable with expressing their own ideas and talking to each other.  As a teacher, you need to create a situation where this will happen.  Refer back to the page on encouraging creativity. You could be the facilitator of a discussion, or you could be a participant.

The teacher as facilitator: 

You would take on this role when learners are working together in groups on tasks which they can do mostly by themselves without much help from you.  Your role would be:

• to set the task and
• provide the material they need, and
• then to manage the group work. 

You would not intervene very much - only when a group seems to be “stuck” or not able to work effectively.  In order for the group to work independently and properly, you might need to discuss and agree on some basic rules with the class first  (e.g. each member of the group must have a turn). 

The teacher as participant: 

A discussion often works best if the teacher participates in it.  The teacher can help by:

• drawing the learners’ attention to important points,
• by asking questions to make sure that everyone understands the discussion,
• by pointing out links between ideas or links to new ideas, and
• by giving a positive response to what learners say.

The teacher must not take over the discussion, however.  Your job is to get the learners to talk to each other (instead of to you)  and to listen to each other.  You can do this by using some of the following strategies: 

• Sit at the same level as the learners, as one of the group
• Listen more than you speak, encouraging the learners to talk and expand on their ideas
• Ask a learner to be the chairperson of the discussion
• Get the learners to sit in a circle, and make sure everyone has a turn to speak when they want to
• Have some sort of symbolic article (like a pretend microphone), which is passed to each speaker in turn
• Encourage speakers to look at the person they are talking to
• Get learners to talk to each other in pairs, so that they think, discuss, and contribute as a partnership
• Sometimes give your own opinion in order to stimulate discussion, or play devil’s advocate by expressing a contrary point of view.