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Scholarship March 29, 2017

Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms

The Wabash Center

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Author
Brookfield, Stephen D. and Stephen Preskill
Publisher
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA
Offers a variety of practical ideas, tools, and techniques for creating democratic classrooms. The authors suggest exercises to get discussion started, strategies for maintaining its momentum, ways to elicit a diversity of views and voices, ideas for creative groupings and formats, and processes to encourage student participation. In exploring the role of the teacher in discussion, they address the tensions and possibilities arising from ethnic, cultural, social class, and gender difference. Throughout, they emphasize how discussion fosters democratic participation and enhances learning, and they review how to balance the voices of students and teachers. (From the Publisher)