Director, Environmental Studies
Professor of English

Student-Lead Discussions

An important and often neglected intellectual skill is speaking-and-listening. There are many different formats where you are thinking-out-loud and thinking-along-with-others. One is general class discussion. Another is small group discussions. Peer-editing is yet another format. Still other forms are student-lead discussions. In this case a small group of students are responsible for directing class discussion. In this class, student “reports” will not mean that a panel will spend 75 minutes lecturing the class or simply discussing the reading and ideas by themselves. Instead they will lead a class discussion, directing it into real probing of the complexities of the reading.

I expect that each group will create a list of study questions that students will consider as they read the assignment. (In some cases I will already have study questions that the group can use, but in that case they can send out additional ones as well.) Developing study questions involves planning ahead, because they need to be handed out in the previous class. Either you need to print them, or you need to get the questions to me electronically (email or disk) before the preceding class. This way I can print the questions and hand them out during the preceding class.

The focus of discussion is critical thinking. Whether it is a literary text or a philosophical essay, critical thinking gets you below the surface to engage in the complexity of the ideas and values involved. In the case of a literary text, the panel can get the audience involved in a penetrating rhetorical analysis.

Keep in mind what is involved in critical thinking:

• Highlighting the issues that are involved . Most writing responds to particular issues that the author believes are important. If you can foreground those issues, the significance of the writing will become more obvious. In addition, the issues provide a context for deeper probing because it implies that there are other views about the issues in addition to the author’s.
• Looking for complexities and ambiguities . These lead to probing the issues, ideas, and values deeply -- rather than merely summarizing what is said. In particular, looking for multiple possible interpretations of or responses to ideas and values. Start with being open to several, then go back to the text to decide which has more support.
• Especially if the text is non-fiction, the author will probably give support for her ideas. What is the
• evidence,
• argument, and
• authority the author uses to support her views?
• Uncover the basis for the view being expressed, which are usually only implicit in the writing:
• Basic values (concerning the value of nature, how nature operates, the nature of society, our relation to nature, human nature, etc.)
• Assumptions (about the current situation, history, ecology – including how bad the current situation is – etc.)
• Definitions of key terms (e.g. civil disobedience, terrorism, nature chauvinism)
• Categories and intellectual frameworks
• Come up with possible problems with the views and values expressed. The problems could be with
• the support given: evidence, argument, authority
• the basis: values, assumptions, definitions
• the intellectualimplications of the ideas and values
• the social and individualimplications (what would happen if we accept the views proposed)
• Dialectical analysis , that strives to
• understand the significance of a person’s views and values and why the person holds them
• look for complexities and ambiguities of the views and values
• critique problems with the views
• analyze how the writer would respond to those criticisms
• come up with new, deeper critiques
• and so on

So the panel’s job is not just to ask questions and try to get answers, but to push the audience into deeper thinking and feeling about the writing. One of the most important ways the panel can do that is by projecting a certain attitude, a particular persona. The panel has to communicate that they take the questions seriously and see them as significant – if the panel doesn’t, the audience isn’t likely to. The panel also needs to embody the qualities that characterize critical thinking:

• Seriousness and inquisitiveness concerning the material.
• Respect but also criticalness toward the writer.
• Imagination but also precision in thinking about the writing.
• Openness to ambiguity yet thoroughness in thinking through the complexity.

There are various challenges to leading a discussion. The most obvious one is when no one responds to the question, or only a few people do all the talking. There are various ways to deal with this.

• After a pause, rephrase the question. This may trigger some ideas in the audience, it gives them more time to think about the question, and it signals that the audience needs to respond.
• Have another panel member offer a response to the questions. But don’t use that as the response. Present it as a hypothesis, as one possible answer, and then ask the audience if they see it a different way.
• Call on someone. Students in the audience should be prepared to discuss questions, especially those that were handed out.
• Present a particular, ideally controversial view, and ask the audience how the respond to it, and why.

In addition to having study questions, another way to get discussion going is to read an important and complex passage. Perhaps point out in what way it is important and complex, and then ask the audience what they think the passage means, or whether they agree with it.

Panels will be evaluated in terms of

• The degree they presented the questions as part of critical thinking, pushing the class to think deeply
• The success they had in getting the audience to participate
• The balance among the panelists’ participation: all should participate equally.

The panel will lead the discussion, and I will play only a minor role. However, I may add some ideas or questions if it might help push the discussion deeper. But don’t expect me to take over, and don’t direct questions and answers to me. This is a time for the students to take over.

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