Discussion as a Way of Teaching

Brookfield helps us understand how allowing students to participate in class discussions can help facilitate their learning at a higher rate than other methods. Educators should not need to put an extreme amount of stress upon themselves by consuming time with lectures, but instead focus more on class activities and how they can involve the students in active learning rather than passive. Life is an ongoing process and it is important for students to develop how to be lifelong learning. The way a teacher is perceived by students is critical to creating an effective learning environment. If educators do not seem invested or show care and desire in their work, then students will grasp onto those feelings and be less willing to participate and learn. Reflection upon what students learned after discussion is key to student’s high retention rates. Teachers should be asking questions about what was learn throughout the class period after each day.

Students also need a clear-cut rules and policies for how they should behave during class. Open discussions should be advocated by the teacher. All students should be able to share their own ideas without the fear of being judged by others. Teachers can enable this class environment by assigning certain roles to students to help facilitate learning. To get students to understand how a class discussion should unfold, teachers should first demonstrate the proper methods by laying down the ground rules. Different perspectives are keys ways to understanding the world and including a variety of student’s inputs enables a much larger pool of learning. I found the snowballing method that Brookfield mentions for inclusion of students in class activities to be very informative. Suggesting groups merge together to talk and build ideas can effectively get everybody sharing during class without the fear of intimidation since they start will only pair or even singles. All in all I think the inclusion of students in class activates is vital to the learning process and building an effective classroom environment.