Young people need a forum to express their thoughts, but they also need to be trained to become respectful listeners of diverse opinions. We believe that the best place to learn this principal is in school. Good classroom discussions lay the groundwork for democratic participation throughout life, giving students a sense of power within a community, and conveying to them the importance of their future role as participants in society. A thoughtful classroom discussion helps kids develop critical thinking. Talking in a group helps students learn to organize their thoughts and present them coherently.
Students also learn to be active listeners, holding other peoples' ideas up to critical analysis.
They come to see that there are always alternative ways of looking at a difficult problem or situation. And later on in life they reap the rewards in the real world from thinking creatively on their feet. So, classroom discussions yield very powerful individual and social benefits. We were inspired by a PBS series produced in connection with the Columbia University Media In Society Seminars. It featured a skillful moderator who presented hypothetical situations to a panel of distinguished participants representing a range of competing interests.