What can we as faculty members do to foster rich scholarly discourse? How can we create “safe enough spaces,” as Michael Roth calls them, for better class discussions? How can we meet students where they are and help them improve their skills?
Finding a way is crucial. We know from research that diverse perspectives lead to deeper learning and better problem-solving but only if all voices are heard. To make the most of societal heterogeneity and avoid retreating into echo chambers, we must have better conversations. Simple encouragement, however, will not suffice. Instead, I suggest we draw upon decades of research on inclusive teaching to provide onramps for self-censoring students to merge into the traffic of scholarly debate.
Sources like Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill’s The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking, James Lang’s Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, and Peter Felten and Leo Lambert’s Relationship-Rich Education provide many ideas.
From these and other sources, as well as my own experience, I highlight five techniques, all of which should be preceded by co-creating community guidelines with students on the first day of class. While some of the following techniques are designed simply to make students more comfortable with engagement, all can be leveraged to foster divergent thinking.
1. Warm calling
2. Half-formed thoughts
3. Doubting-and-believing squares
4. Page-number lines
5. Preparatory notes