Tools for Improving Student Discussion or Helping Students and Teachers Create a Community of Inquiry

Abstract

Introduction: What is required of students in a discussion and what is important about a discussion can be defined in part by curiosity and transparency. First, discussion needs to be permeated by curiosity. This curiosity can be thought of as a kind of "ignorance". "A philosophy for children discussion should be, to some extent, rooted in what Whitehead calls a sort of 'ignorance'. There should be some question that is not yet answered, some problem not yet solved." (Reed, 1985, p. 229) Without curiosity on the part of the teacher and the students, any discussion will be lifeless and its potential for developing greater understanding or uncovering new insight will be very limited. Next, transparency is an essential ingredient if a discussion is to be improved. A transparent discussion is one with a visisble structure. The visible structure of a discussion allows students and teacher to be actively involved in its improvement. The more transparent a discussion, the more likely it is that the discussion can be improved.