Students had been preparing for an in-class debate all week. They were assigned to present arguments to answer the central question: “Who had better ideas for African Americans of the time, WEB Du Bois or Booker T Washington?”. As the class progressed through the structured debate, both sides started to get heated. Students were speaking out of turn, and the intensity kept increasing. Their passionate debating demonstrated that they were interested in the content of the debate, but I wanted to ensure debate norms were being respected. I was concerned that if I did not intervene, the purpose of the debate would be diminished and students might even say hurtful things to one another; however, I was also worried that if I did intervene, the passionate debate would come to a grinding halt.
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Jared
10th Grade
African American History
Second Year Teaching
- What is the teacher's dilemma? Consider the teacher's goals, possible actions, beliefs about the situation and the students, and their own self-perceptions.
- Complete or modify the following sentence in a way that captures the teacher's central tension in the situation: "While on the one hand, the teacher believed/wanted/felt/did __________, on the other hand, they believed/wanted/felt/did __________."
- Thinking about your own discussion facilitation, how do you navigate a situation where students’ passions threaten your established norms, but you fear an intervention will throw cold water on the discourse?