This professional development session is recommended for teachers, departments, schools, or districts where there is not an established culture of whole-class text-based student-centered discussion. The aim is to build a shared vision of discussion by moving through the parts of a lesson in sequence.
Optional Prework: Prior to the session, consider having teachers think about what makes discussion valuable. Depending on context and school culture, consider assigning a short reading on the value of discussion in social studies (see options on our For Teachers page) or having teachers briefly journal on how they encourage student talk in their class.
1. Slides 1-8: Present Introductory Slides on Discussion (10 min)
These slides introduce the DISCUSS Philly project and emphasize that discussions are interactive, center student sensemaking, and help build collective knowledge. They can take many forms, but differ in substantial ways from IRE or serial share-outs from groups or individuals.
2. SLIDE 9: "TURN AND TALK" (10 MIN)
Facilitate a “Turn and Talk” on what teachers finds challenging about making social studies discussion-based by asking:
- What do discussions look like in your classroom?
- What challenges have you encountered when facilitating discussions in the social studies classroom?
As you debrief the turn and talk, you might consider what is surfaced: what beliefs do teachers express about discussion, what goals do teachers have around discussion, how do they tend to conduct discussions, and how confident are they as discussion facilitators? How might the challenges they describe relate to the dilemma theme you have chosen for the workshop?
3. Slide 10: Introduce examples of student-centered discussion (30 min)
Although discussions do not need to look the same, it is helpful for us to have a shared idea of what we mean when we talk about discussion. A discussion is a separate classroom activity, like a Do Now or Exit Ticket, and we want to be clear about how they are different from other kinds of student talk that happen in a classroom.
Play an example discussion. If you do not have a video from your school-site, use the videos from the Academically Productive Talk website.
Ask teachers:
- What makes this (or these) discussions different from other kinds of classroom talk?
- What learning opportunities do discussions offer to students that they would not have otherwise?
- How similar are these examples to what you typically do in your classroom?
- What challenges do these kinds of discussions pose?
During today’s session we are going to look at dilemmas that might arise in different parts of the planning and teaching process.
4. Slides 11-17: Present Introductory Slides on Dilemmas (10 min)
These slides emphasize that dilemmas reflect arguments that happen within yourself between two things (goals/beliefs, etc.) that are difficult to resolve. You may never completely resolve them, but you can figure out the source of the tension, and manage your dilemmas more deliberately.
The Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) is helpful in breaking down the parts of a dilemma, or what makes it challenging. The DSMRI thinks about every person as holding a lot of identities (i.e., daughter, friend, social studies teacher, community theater actor) and that the identity you inhabit in any given moment is dependent on the social role you inhabit in that moment. In this PD, we’re interested in getting inside participants’ teacher role identities, or more specifically, their discussion facilitator role identities. While facilitating a discussion, the DSMRI holds that teachers’ actions are a product of the interplay of four components: their beliefs, their goals, their action possibilities, and their self-perception. In looking at dilemmas today, we are exploring those times when two parts of this identity system are in tension, which produces a dilemma for one of our novice teachers.
You will see as you advance the slides an example of a dilemma and that in our slide we have each component of the teacher’s identity pop up one at a time, followed by red or green arrows showing where there are tensions (red) or alignments (green) in the teacher’s identity system. This is to give you as a presenter an opportunity to narrate the dilemma (i.e., “If I’m this teacher I have a goal that ‘I don’t want to talk a lot as I facilitate because I want students to talk’ and a self-perception that ‘I am the sort of teacher who values student voice.’ These are aligned. I’m feeling good as a teacher about this! However, I also have a goal that ‘I want students to use evidence and they’re not using evidence.’ This is in tension with my goal and my self-perception! Oh no! This might be one part of my dilemma… etc..”)
5. SLIDES 18-20: EXPLORING PLANNING DILEMMAS (45 min)
Before we can expect students to dive into discussions, we need to plan lessons that provoke discussions.
- Quick turn and talk. What dilemmas do you face when thinking about planning discussions for class? (5 minutes)
- Play DISCUSS video: How do I plan engaging discussion? (5 minutes)
- Select one of the linked dilemmas, such as A Perfect Central Question, to read together (5 minutes)
- Walkthrough a website dilemma with teachers. (30 minutes)
Please select one dilemma ahead of time that you believe might be relevant to the staff you are working with and/or that complements the focus of the professional development session. For some dilemmas, you can see a video of the classroom as the dilemma took place for the teacher, which we suggest watching after reading the dilemma.
After reading the dilemma and viewing the video, where applicable, start off a discussion of the dilemma by asking your teachers to inhabit the perspective of the teacher presenting the dilemma:
- What do you think is going through this teacher’s mind? How do you think they’re feeling and what might be causing them to feel that way? Where is the tension coming up for them? What goals, beliefs, actions and/or self-perceptions might be clashing for this teacher?
Once you have a chance to inhabit the presenting teacher’s perspective, you can shift to teachers’ own perspectives on this dilemma as discussion facilitators and discuss the questions:
- Even though your situation is different, how does this situation relate to dilemmas you’ve faced?
- What did you do when facing your dilemma? What were you thinking, feeling, and hoping would happen and how did you see yourself in that moment?
- Which of those things (your actions, feelings, goals, beliefs, and self-perceptions) aligned with facilitating classroom discussions?
- Did any of your thoughts, feelings, or actions seem to clash with facilitating classroom discussions, or make doing so more challenging?
- Looking back, what’s one thing you could try or change to make your classroom discussions go more smoothly in the future?
6. SLIDES 21-23: EXPLORING DILEMMAS RELATED TO CULTIVATING SAFE CLASSROOMS (45 min)
Even fascinating discussion questions will struggle to launch, if students are not prepared to collaborate in safe and productive ways. Next we will look at some of the dilemmas associated with creating norms for discussions.
- Quick turn and talk. What dilemmas do you face when thinking about creating norms for discussions in class? (5 minutes)
- Play DISCUSS video: How do I promote active participation? (5 minutes). You could also substitute a different video such as ‘How do I cultivate safe classrooms?’ if that better matches your school’s needs.
- Select one of the linked dilemmas, such as Applying the Norms, to read together. Feel free to select a dilemma that best matches the needs of your teachers. (5 minutes)
- Walkthrough a website dilemma with teachers. (30 minutes)
Please select one dilemma ahead of time that you believe might be relevant to the staff you are working with and/or that complements the focus of the professional development session. For some dilemmas, you can see a video of the classroom as the dilemma took place for the teacher, which we suggest watching after reading the dilemma.
After reading the dilemma and viewing the video, where applicable, start off a discussion of the dilemma by asking your teachers to inhabit the perspective of the teacher presenting the dilemma:
- What do you think is going through this teacher’s mind? How do you think they’re feeling and what might be causing them to feel that way? Where is the tension coming up for them? What goals, beliefs, actions and/or self-perceptions might be clashing for this teacher?
Once you have a chance to inhabit the presenting teacher’s perspective, you can shift to teachers’ own perspectives on this dilemma as discussion facilitators and discuss the questions:
- Even though your situation is different, how does this situation relate to dilemmas you’ve faced?
- What did you do when facing your dilemma? What were you thinking, feeling, and hoping would happen and how did you see yourself in that moment?
- Which of those things (your actions, feelings, goals, beliefs, and self-perceptions) aligned with facilitating classroom discussions?
- Did any of your thoughts, feelings, or actions seem to clash with facilitating classroom discussions, or make doing so more challenging?
- Looking back, what’s one thing you could try or change to make your classroom discussions go more smoothly in the future?
7. SLIDES 24-25: SHARED PLANNING TIME (45 min)
Now that we have looked at some shared dilemmas for setting up discussions, let’s put some of those ideas into action.
Working with a peer or small group who teaches a similar course, teachers should begin to script discussion lessons. Since discussion lessons can take a long time to plan, teachers should focus on the two dilemmas they just explored. The goal should be for teachers to create two products within a 45 minute section of work time:
- A short “launch” script that could be used to begin a discussion. Teachers should imagine that they have already taught the key content and are now writing a short paragraph that would be the last thing they say to students before the discussion begins. The goal is to explain the task, motivate students, and energize the lesson as succinctly as possible.
- A short “norming” script that could be used to explain the expectations during a discussion. Teachers should imagine that this is the first time students are doing a whole group discussion. The goal is to explain why they are doing a discussion, how discussions are different from other sections of class, and how students are expected to act during the discussion.
8. SLIDES 26-28: SHARE OUT AND DISCUSSION (45 min)
- Each small group of teachers should find a second small group. The first group will have time to explain the following:
- How they addressed Planning Engaging Discussions and Cultivating Safe Classrooms in their lesson plans
- Any questions or uncertainties that remain
- The second group should provide feedback, praise, or suggestions before they present their lessons. Groups may want to consider asking:
- Why teachers made a specific decision
- Naming what elements of a lesson they might take into their own class or adapt
- Explaining similar dilemmas that they have faced in their own teaching
- If time allows, the groups should compare and contrast their solutions and discuss why they made the choices they did.
- Whole group discussion. Based on the small group conversations, the facilitator should use this opportunity to advance the collective understanding of how to address discussions and dilemmas.
Consider asking the following questions:
- What similarities did your groups notice in how they were approaching planning and norming?
- What was easiest (or most difficult) about addressing these dilemmas?
- What new or unresolved dilemmas, issues, or questions did your groups notice?
- How is this the same (or different) from how you typically prepare for class?
9. SLIDES 29-31: EXPLORING FACILITATION DILEMMAS (45 min)
A great plan and set of norms is enough to get a discussion started, but new dilemmas frequently arise during discussions. With your partner, select a dilemma that we have not explored as a whole group and consider how it might influence the lesson you are planning.
- Quick turn and talk. What dilemmas do you face when thinking about facilitating discussions in class? (5 minutes)
- In the pairs or small groups they planned with, teachers should play a DISCUSS video, like How do I address challenging student comments? (5 minutes)
- Select one of the linked dilemmas. Feel free to select a dilemma that best matches the needs of your teachers. (5 minutes)
- Walkthrough a website dilemma with teachers. (30 minutes)
Please select one dilemma ahead of time that you believe might be relevant to the staff you are working with and/or that complements the focus of the professional development session. For some dilemmas, you can see a video of the classroom as the dilemma took place for the teacher, which we suggest watching after reading the dilemma.
After reading the dilemma and viewing the video, where applicable, start off a discussion of the dilemma by asking your teachers to inhabit the perspective of the teacher presenting the dilemma:
- What do you think is going through this teacher’s mind? How do you think they’re feeling and what might be causing them to feel that way? Where is the tension coming up for them? What goals, beliefs, actions and/or self-perceptions might be clashing for this teacher?
Once you have a chance to inhabit the presenting teacher’s perspective, you can shift to teachers’ own perspectives on this dilemma as discussion facilitators and discuss the questions:
- Even though your situation is different, how does this situation relate to dilemmas you’ve faced?
- What did you do when facing your dilemma? What were you thinking, feeling, and hoping would happen and how did you see yourself in that moment?
- Which of those things (your actions, feelings, goals, beliefs, and self-perceptions) aligned with facilitating classroom discussions?
- Did any of your thoughts, feelings, or actions seem to clash with facilitating classroom discussions, or make doing so more challenging?
- Looking back, what’s one thing you could try or change to make your classroom discussions go more smoothly in the future?
10. SLIDES 32: WRAP UP (15 min)
Whole group discussion. Based on the small group conversations, the facilitator should use this opportunity to advance the collective understanding of how to address discussions and dilemmas.
Consider asking the following questions:
- What dilemmas did you choose to address more closely, why?
- What was easiest (or most difficult) about addressing these dilemmas?
- What new or unresolved dilemmas, issues, or questions did your groups notice?
- Now that this PD is ending, what do you plan to bring back to your classroom?
If possible, end the session with a plan for follow-up, such as sharing lesson plans, observations, or peer visits during discussion.