Facilitating Discussions
Facilitating Discussions
Powerful class discussions may seem natural, even spontaneous, but they are typically the result of careful planning, clear intentions, and concrete strategies. From the physical layout of a classroom to the skillful wording of that genuinely provocative question, pedagogic considerations abound. Although facilitators’ styles can range from subtle to direct, effective instructors tend to strike a balance between organic conversation and focused discourse.
Facilitating Discussions videos are organized into three submodules: Framing the Discussion, Balancing and Pacing, and Responding to Students. Classroom footage, student testimonials, and interviews with featured faculty present a range of moves designed to lead more thought-provoking, equitable, structured, student-centered discussions.
Featured Faculty
Gretchen Brion-Meisels
Lecturer on Education
Course details:
"Partnering with Youth on Educational Research and Practice"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; 30 students
Relevant quote:
"My goal for the class is that we will grapple with hard questions that come up when you try to partner with youth…I want us to grapple with questions that are authentically hard for everyone in the room."
Jane Mansbridge
Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Value
Course details:
"Democratic Theory"; Harvard Kennedy School of Government; 30 students
Relevant quote:
"When we produce something, we take ownership of it, we care more about it, and we invest ourselves in it further. So even when you’re just producing words in a class, they’re your words."
Timothy Patrick McCarthy
Lecturer on History and Literature
Course details:
"Stories of Slavery & Freedom"; Harvard College; 16 students
Relevant quote:
"There’s never going to be a perfect class where I can just fade into the background, and students can all talk amongst themselves. But the best classes are those that get closest to that."
Todd Rakoff
Byrne Professor of Administrative Law
Course details:
"Legislation & Regulation"; Harvard Law School; 80 students
Relevant quote:
"I want students to build bridges from what they can do now to what is on the opposite shore. With some students, you can build the bridge pretty far back from the shore, for some you've got to get very close to it, and for others you have to say, 'Here's what the middle of the river looks like.'"
Christina “V” Villarreal
Lecturer on Education
Course details:
"Ethnic Studies"; Harvard Graduate School of Education; 23 students
Relevant quote:
"The work of teachers is making a thousand mental calculations at any given moment. It's oftentimes kind of like the role of a conductor, but there's no wrong notes in a classroom. There can be dissonant notes."
