Making Classroom Discussions Work

For the last 2 decades, the field of social studies education has seen an increase in research on the use of discussions as an essential instructional technique. This book examines the importance of using quality dialogue as a tool to help students understand complex issues in social studies classrooms. The author provides a collection of well-known, evidence-based discussion techniques as well as classroom examples showing the methods in use. While the benefits of using discussion as an instructional method is widely considered a best practice of civic learning, actual high-quality discussions are rare and notoriously difficult to facilitate. Making Classroom Discussions Work is designed to guide teacher educators and classroom teachers in facilitating equitable and productive discussions that will boost learning and democratic engagement.

Book Features:

• Emphasizes the rationale for using discussion in social studies teaching.

• Collects strategies that have been proposed in disparate journal articles and books in one convenient volume.

• Presents research-based challenges and supports for conducting and assessing discussions in the social studies.

• Includes methods and tips to help teachers make discussions more equitable in their classrooms.

Contributors: Terence Beck, Jacob S. Bennett, Bryant O. Best, Mary Ellen Daneels, Antero Garcia, Noorya Hayat, Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado, Erica Hodgin, Amanda Jennings, Jeff Kabat, Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Jada Kohlmeier, Bruce E. Larson, Arine Lowery, Paula McAvoy, Elizabeth Milligan Cordova, H. Richard Milner IV, Nicole Mirra, Chauncey Monte-Sano; Walter Parker, Maria del Mar Estrada Rebull, Abby Reisman, Dan Stickney