Welcome to DISCUSS, a free library of more than 80 teacher-authored dilemmas about facilitating discussions in secondary social studies classrooms.

Engaging students in social studies discussions is complex work. We built this site for teachers, teacher educators, and researchers who want to learn from the challenging moments that emerge when facilitating discussions in classrooms. 

Explore this website by browsing dilemmas by theme. For each dilemma, we provide guiding prompts to help you name the central tension the teacher is facing and explore similar dilemmas in your own teaching practice.

"What is a discussion in a classroom?" written in post-its
A teacher is speaking in front of a group of students in a classroom with hand gestures. Students are sitting around U-shaped desks, listening to the teacher.
Two students sit at a table while a teacher stands between them. The teacher and one of the students looks to the left of the frame.
A group of students are having a discussion in a classroom. Seats are organized in a circle so that students are able to see each other. One student is explaining with hand gestures, others are listening and looking at the students holding documents.
Six students are sitting at the same table facing each other. One student is talking while others are looking down at the document they are holding.
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