Making Classroom Discussions Work: Methods for Quality Dialogue in the Social Studies(Research and Practice in Social Studies Series)

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.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword  Diana E. Hess  vii Acknowledgments  xi Introduction  Jane C. Lo  1 Part I: Engaging in Classroom Discussions 1.  Guiding Principles for Using Classroom Discussion  11 Bruce E. Larson 2.  Preparing Teachers for Current and Controversial Issue Discussion  27 Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Mary Ellen Daneels, and Noorya Hayat 3.  Supporting Civic Discussions With Younger Students  44 Terence A. Beck Part II: Unpacking Well-Known Discussion Techniques in the Social Studies 4.  Socratic Seminar: Learning With and From Each Other While Interpreting Complex Text  63 Jada Kohlmeier 5.  Structured Academic Controversy: What It Can Be  73 Walter C. Parker 6.  Structure Matters: Comparing Deliberation and Debate  90 Paula McAvoy and Arine Lowery 7.  Document-Based Discussions in History: Orienting Students to the Discipline  106 Abby Reisman 8.  Embedding Discussion Throughout Inquiry  124 María del Mar Estrada Rebull, Chauncey Monte-Sano, Amanda Jennings, and Jeff Kabat Part III: Expanding Toward More Equitable Discussions 9.  Talking Politics Online: Educating for Online Civic and Political Dialogue  143 Erica Hodgin 10.  The Structures We Live In: Discussing Racialization of Neighborhoods to Transform the Null Curriculum  161 Jacob S. Bennett, H. Richard Milner IV, and Bryant O. Best 11.  Get Out of Your Own Way: Sharing Power to Engage Students of Color in Authentic Conversations of Social Inequity  176 Dane Stickney, Elizabeth Milligan Cordova, and Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado 12.  Supporting Youth to Engage in Authentic Civic Dialogue in Our "Actually Existing" Democracy  192 Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia Concluding Thoughts  209 Jane C. Lo Appendix A: Pledge of Allegiance Mini Unit  215 Appendix B: Ticket to Pledge Seminar  217 Appendix C: Pledge Discussion Guide  219 Appendix D: The Pledge of Allegiance Supreme Court Cases  223 Appendix E: You Be the Judge: Frazier v. Winn  225 About the Editor and Contributors  229 Index  235

About the Author :
Jane C. Lo is an assistant professor of teacher education at Michigan State University.

Review :
"This methods volume makes discussion less intimidating and overwhelming, as it highlights many concrete ways to conduct quality discussion in K-12 Social Studies classrooms. All the examples are grounded in theories and research, and rooted in practice. This book will benefit pre-service and classroom teachers who are new to discussion. It can also help experienced practitioners hone and diversify their discussion techniques for equity and justice." --Teachers College Record