Many teachers don’t like to be leading a class discussion when our administrators come a-knocking for a professional observation. This is because discussions are unpredictable in ways that other pedagogical strategies are not. We never truly know if our administrator is about to witness a total collapse—students who are dramatically bored, off-task, or arguing—when they observe a discussion. Many of us have even nailed the class discussion (at least in our heads), only to see a poor evaluation score with some version of “Do you think you could get more students involved in the conversation?” written on the form.
This feedback can be tough. We work with our students every day, and we know that some of them really like to talk, and some of them would rather eat dirt than raise their hands in a whole-class discussion. Often, we have worked tirelessly with students in the latter group. We sidle up to them in the middle of class to compliment their work and build their confidence. We speak to them before class, tipping them about the day’s prompts and challenging them to raise their hand, just to get the feel of it. They might have even raised their hands—yesterday—when we weren’t being observed!
Also, to be frank, I appreciate my eager talkers. These students continually rescue the class from awkward silences. They find ways to connect my discussion points to something going on in their world. These energetically vocal kids are, to be honest, the spark that my discussions depend on. Any feedback from administrators that implies that I should actively discourage them from speaking feels wrong. It also falsely assumes that more vocal students are bad listeners. I’ve even heard it implied that these students are overprivileged and need to have this privilege checked!
Variety Is the Spice of Discussion
Why is it that we think unless every student contributes, it won’t be a good or equitable class discussion? Aren’t some kids just quiet? Just like the vocal ones aren’t necessarily bad listeners, the quiet ones aren’t necessarily “not engaged.” Quiet doesn’t automatically mean “lacks confidence.” It doesn’t automatically mean “doesn’t feel safe.” It just means quiet. Some students don’t enjoy speaking in front of large groups. They can. They just don’t want to if there is another option. This feels like a human personality trait that any thoughtful and caring teacher’s pedagogy should respect.
These systems trick us into valuing the quantity of raised hands over the quality of students’ contributions.
We should, of course, help students to develop the communication skills they need. But to think this means that our goal should be 100 percent equal speaking time is not going to lead us to good places. It will instead convince us to set up artificial systems that punish students for not speaking enough. These systems trick us into valuing the quantity of raised hands over the quality of students’ contributions. This myth may also inadvertently lead to us giving our more vocal students the professional version of a cold shoulder, which might alienate the very enthusiastic voices that our classroom discussions depend on.
We teachers, and our observing administrators, need to expand our idea of what equitable participation looks like in classroom discussions. Instead of focusing on the extremes—the eager participants at one end and the stone-silent students on the other—we should pay closer attention to the “middle third.” Is there a reliable sprinkling of other hands raised across the room? Are students getting the opportunity to speak to each other instead of the teacher? Are they being offered varied, thoughtful ways to do so (small groups, in pairs, etc.)? We probably should also note whether students seem to be enjoying themselves in the class discussion. Are they smiling? Is there any joy to be found, even if the conversation might be academically or emotionally challenging? Finally, we could note other indicators of engagement, such as if students are tracking the current speaker with their eyes, taking notes, or referring back to other comments with phrases like “I want to build off of what ___ just said.” This would show that students are engaging with their classmates’ ideas, even if they aren’t actively speaking up themselves.
Let’s Be Real
All these observations would take us a step closer to setting more reasonable—and realistic—expectations for class discussions. Yes, realism gets a bad rap in many educational spaces. It is too often taken as a signal of low expectations and dismissed as an aversion to equity. To be a realist is to be pessimistic. We are told to prefer the aspirational, the inspirational, the paradigm-shifting. However, most teachers want to cut through the noise and find out what works. Not what would work if only our school had more money or different students. Not what would work if our administrations or communities were more supportive. Not what would work if we had more time. Dreaming is a luxury that many of us do not have.
Realistic goals show that we are committing to the hard work of figuring out how to meet our students where they are and leading discussions that thoughtfully move all of them forward.
It is a waste of both our time and energy trying to live up to discussion goals that ultimately make no sense. We frustrate ourselves and annoy our students when we allow goals like “all students should speak for an equal amount of time” to frame what it means to do a good job. This goal might lead us to reward students just for raising their hands when they have nothing to say. So many times, “participation points” come off feeling inauthentic and arbitrary and leave everyone with a bad taste in their mouths. Students raise their hands simply because they have to, just to “check the box.”
Instead, let’s work toward realistic goals that feel worthwhile, like “students will track the speaker with their eyes,” “students will take notes on each other’s contributions,” and “students will cite each other in the discourse.” Even if we fall short of them, realistic goals are easy to communicate to students, families, and administrators, and they set us up for more replicable success. Far from signaling low expectations, realistic goals show that we as teachers are committing to the hard work of figuring out how to meet our students where they are and leading discussions that thoughtfully move all of them forward.
Prompting Deeper Discussions
Learn how to craft better prompts and lead deeper class discussions.
