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Discussion as a Way of Teaching by Stephen Brookfield

Stephen Brookfield’s “Discussion as a Way of Teaching” gives a well-rounded image of effective discussion within the classroom. Brookfield’s text paves the way for educators when incorporating classroom discussion into their curriculum. He is able to do so by providing different examples of conversations that should take place in the classroom between student and teacher. Also, he provides detailed directions on how to present certain discussion topics in the class. Brookfield’s text has earned its spot on my bookshelf.  
                Throughout the piece, Brookfield asks the readers to reflect on their own experiences with group discussions. Making me reflect on my own history allowed me to build a connection with the techniques in the book. I remember good class discussions as those which flowed fluently and smoothly. Many times the professor would stimulate our class by asking open-ended questions in general to the class than giving us our own time to process these before moving to a whole class discussion. Additionally, good discussions often have well-informed participants, meaning everyone read the night before. When the whole class was on board with the discussion, the natural flow let us deeply converse among ourselves, leading to deeper class discussion.

                Yet, some of the worst experiences I’ve had with class discussion are when no one speaks up. Most of the time this is caused when a majority of the classroom didn’t read the night before but can also be because of the classroom environment. I had a classroom where students lead the discussion. Soon students felt ashamed to talk because often times other students would shut their ideas down. Furthermore, Brookfield discusses the importance of letting students know that they have the right to not speak. Many times I have felt as though I needed to talk to please my teacher. More effective thinking and discussion would have occurred if this pressure wasn’t present. Overall, Brookfield’s text provides many tools that educators can use when incorporating classroom discussion into class curriculum. 

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