NCCRESt

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Discussion (Teaching Technique)

• A New Instrument to Measure Diversity in the Curriculum
  Gauges inclusion of diversity issues and discussion within journalism and mass communication classes from students' perspectives. Finds instructors at nonaccredited programs scored better on every diversity variable; women instructors were far more likely to bring diversity issues into the classroom; part-time instructors did best on the diversity index; and instructors included more diversity issues in classes with minority enrollment.
• Complements or Conflicts: Conceptions of Discussion and Multicultural Literature in a Teachers-as-Readers Discussion Group
  Examines effectiveness of a teachers-as-readers discussion group in (1) suggesting how teachers can use multicultural literature to foster an ethical respect for others and (2) engaging teachers in conversations about multicultural literature that challenge prevailing patterns of school literature discussions. Suggests success of the second aim may have come at the cost of the first aim.
• Encouraging Students To Analyze/Articulate Their Beliefs about Cultural Diversity
  This paper offers suggestions for teaching high school and college students about cultural diversity and for providing them with multicultural educational experiences. After presenting a background and rationale for such teaching, the paper gives a list of classroom activities, including student reactions to statements regarding racism and affirmative action and a video analysis exercise.
• Literacy, Dialogue, and Difference in the "Electronic Contact Zone."
  Discusses a first-year writing class composed of both Hispanic-American and Anglo students, arguing that rather than regarding online conflicts between students as mere "flaming," such conflicts can be seen as a way of helping students develop as literate citizens more aware of difference. (SR).
• Literature Discussion in the Elementary School Classroom: Developing Cultural Understanding
  One effective instructional technique for promoting cultural awareness and understanding among elementary school students is literature discussion. Literature discussions help children explore multicultural ideas and issues, reading works of culturally relevant literature, then coming together to discuss their personal responses.
• Preparing Teachers for Diversity through Critical Conversation
  Students in ethnically homogeneous regions often enter teacher education programs lacking opportunity to recognize or reflect on diversity. By creating spaces for critical conversations, students can extend their perspective and understanding of diversity.
• Reflective Reading: A Study in (Tele)literacy
  Presents a study of reflective reading using visual texts, where 12 adult literacy students begin to develop skills in teleliteracy by "reading" the texts for meaning by discussing characters, plot, setting, and theme in four edited segments. Finds that television can provide a bridge to link oracy and literacy when used as an educational tool in language classrooms.
• Teaching Mathematics for Understanding to Bilingual Students
  When children's own strategies for solving mathematical problems are not connected to the way mathematics is taught in school, students fail to make sense of mathematics instruction and begin to "fail." This chapter adopts the position that student understanding of worthwhile mathematical content is the essential goal of mathematics education, and that everything else--curriculum, instruction, and assessment--is a means to that end.
• Teaching Multicultural Social Studies in an Era of Political Eclipse
  Recommends that teachers combine multicultural education with an inquiry-based approach to social studies to help students critically examine society. Addresses the different obstacles when adopting this approach and offers an example of the inquiry method at work.
• The Limits of Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Pedagogy, Desire, and Absolution in the Classroom
  Discusses the limits of cross-cultural dialog in the classroom, asking what happens if this togetherness and dialog-across-difference fails to hold a compellingly positive meaning for subordinate ethnic groups. Presents a true story about a classroom in a New Zealand university and a controversial pedagogical strategy employed there.
• The One-Minute Paper: Enhancing Discussion in a Multicultural Seminar
  The teacher of a college seminar on education in contemporary American society, addressing sensitive personal and political concepts, used one-minute essays to "take the pulse" of the class daily. Daily summaries of essay content provided students with evidence of the teacher's commitment to monitoring the process, added a level of discourse, and provided feedback about individual and collective direction.
• Walking on Eggs: Mastering the Dreaded Diversity Discussion
  Nine strategies for opening and sustaining discussion of cultural pluralism in the college classroom are offered, including use of powerful evocative quotations, evocative visuals, student self-identification in cultural terms, pictographic autobiographies, student personal narratives, metaphors for America, concentric identity circles exercise, models for interpreting cultural experience, and paired readings. Guidelines for discussion management are also given.