Conclusions and Implications
In this study, students were engaged in Harkness learning. This process is an important method of instruction where I teach. It involves the class sitting around an oval shaped table with their instructor while engaged in conversation mostly related to what they are studying in my history class. The practice allows for students to often have verbal input in the lesson while listening to the ideas of their peers in an attempt to better understand classroom content. Students also explore topics that are of importance to them and these discussions can be outside the realms of what the class is currently studying. The school where this study took place is still one of the few schools in California which uses this progressive style of teaching. The limited use of the teaching method on the West Coast has resulted in few studies on what constitutes good Harkness teaching, and even fewer studies on how students react to this style of learning.
My study set out to determine how I could encourage more equitable participation in the classroom, particularly during Harkness discussions. The complexities that were associated with this were endless and it seemed that as soon as I implemented something that might make for increased participation it offset something else, making for difficult collection and analysis of data. However, I did discover a few things related to how factors like gender, discussion topics, and the structure of the conversation influenced student participation and motivation at the Harkness table.
I consider the verbal participation of students in a classroom to be one of the most significantly important parts of their education. Students who learn to effectively express their ideas in a group of their peers stand a better chance of being effective in the work force once they leave school when one considers the importance of face to face conversation in most work places. Harkness teaching not only allows for students to develop their verbal skills in the classroom, it also teaches them to how to enter into the conversations of others. The practice also helps students to become good listeners as well as individuals who are able to consider the ideas of others, and then build these ideas in a conversation. In short, Harkness participants learn to become excellent communicators while they are at school and learn a vital lifelong skill. Students who commit themselves to becoming good Harkness participants at Pacific Ridge School will, when spoken to, challenge the assumption that perfect test scores are the most important indicator of educational success. Instead, they cite the importance of having an opinion and being able to defend it.
Gender Differences
Gender differences played a significant role during this study in determining how I designed discussions for students. I found that the differences in the participation levels of students could often be directly attributed to the differences in how boys and girls conducted themselves during a Harkness discussion. Even when I introduced a new strategy that I thought would benefit all students I often found that it was significantly more beneficial to either the male or female students in my class. For example, I found that female 10th grade students were significantly more motivated to participate in Harkness discussions when I explicitly stated that I would be assigning a grade for each student during proceedings. This theory is supported by Leonard Sax who says that girls are more success driven and “...tend to do their homework to a higher standard even if they are not interested in the content”. (2005, p.80) Another significant finding that I encountered as I increased the frequency of Harkness discussions in my 10th grade history classes was that overall I saw girls speaking less around the Harkness table, even when grades were in question. However, girls contributions were often more thoughtful and focused on the topic at hand. As the year went on, there seemed to be a growing understanding that it was not necessarily the frequency of a student’s remarks at the Harkness table that furthers the conversation, but what students actually said that mattered. Boys showed less anxiety to speak at the Harkness table but their comments, as I found out through gathering student feedback, were generally less valued by the overall class (Their own gender included). Girls were able to stick to the discussion topic more easily and seemed less willing to speak simply to be heard by the group, which usually led to more productive discussions.
Girls were also less pleased to allow the Harkness discussion to be student lead and liked the teacher to play a more dominant role during discussions, particularly to ensure that all voices were heard. I conducted experiments during certain discussions to determine what sort of input the teacher has in determining the quality of each discussion. Sometimes I would push my chair a few feet back from the table and each time I noted that this caused anxiety to develop in a number of my female students. Conversation maps would later show that the frequency of male contributions to the discussions rose significantly when the teacher was not a part of the discussion. Sax (2005) suggests that girls expect the teacher to be on their side and to stick up for them. He also concluded that boys handle moderate stress better than girls and that this moderate stress results in weaker results for girls. Girls were more inclined to speak when I was an active participant during conversations which suggests that they might have felt more comfortable participating when they saw me as an ally in the conversation. Having a teacher be a part of conversations usually resulted in fewer arguments among the students, and students less inclined to interrupt each other. Sax (2005) has shown that girls prefer this sort of environment. Boys also gave their opinion more often whether they thought it is going to be widely accepted by the group or not. Girls on the other hand tended to be more cautious and not always ready to take a side during a controversial discussion topic. The frequency and quality of comments made by female student was however significantly increased and the quality of each comment improved if I gave the class the discussion topic in advance. If girls knew in advance the discussion topic it significantly increased how often they spoke and the length of their comments. This supports Sax’s theory that girls work harder to do better, grade wise at school, and that they are less comfortable with the unknown than are their male peers (2005). Giving the discussion topic a few days in advance of the Harkness discussion had little impact on the frequency, quality and duration of comments made by male students in my classes.
Factors influencing student motivation to participate
The overall motivation of students was difficult to measure because many of the same methods that I introduced to the class seemed to have different results depending on the day. For example, my students (not unlike some adults) were less inclined to be motivated to speak on Mondays than they were later in the week. I could introduce a strategy to increase student participation during one discussion and have excellent participation levels for the class, only to implement the same strategy two days later using a different discussion topic and be met with a class unwilling to participate.
However, there were a few factors that emerged as important no matter the day. For example, I found that the topic of discussion that I introduced was very important. Many students naturally gravitated towards topics that allowed them to form an opinion during the discussion. This supports Daniel Pink’s theory of autonomy (2009). Pink describes autonomy as a desire for people to direct their own lives. Many of my students experienced increased motivation around the Harkness table when they were able to debate on a topic that allowed them to freely form and express their opinions. They said that this most often occurred when they either chose the topic of discussions themselves, or had a say in what they were going to discuss. My exit cards showed that the young people in my classes were eager to express their opinions and I found that they thought that the Harkness table was an excellent place in which to do so.
I also experimented with developing topics of discussion with the idea that I wanted to try to determine if students were more interested in discussing material that they have already learned or a new, “fresh” topic. The rationale here was that I wanted to determine if Harkness discussions were best implemented as a teaching tool to assist in teaching new material or if Harkness was better used as a way to reinforce already learned content. I found that Harkness learning works well for both. It is an effective way of reviewing already learned material and can be a more interesting way for students to recall facts and concepts than having them complete a formal assessment or a writing assignment. Using the Harkness teaching method as a way of introducing new material was also very effective because it allowed me to pre-determine student knowledge of our upcoming units of study, which then allowed me to plan effectively to ensure that I was not teaching my students material that they had prior knowledge of. This was effective for my 10th grade Modern World History course because it allowed me to focus on relevant teaching material and ensured that I could complete our rigorous study of the 20th century by the end of the school year. Student surveys, exit cards, and interviews allowed me to conclude that opinion was evenly split on whether students preferred to Harkness on new material before a unit of study or to use Harkness to reinforce already learned content. By offering students choice by allowing them to Harkness on the different material again supports Pink’s theory of autonomy which claims that choice will further motivate people (2009).
I found it useful to use fishbowl Harkness discussions in both my 10th and 7th grade classes. Students said that dividing the class into two to allow for smaller more focused discussions, generally resulted in more equitable participation. Most preferred this method because they said that it allowed each individual student more time to build their argument and that there was less competition to speak. Some mentioned that the fishbowl discussions allowed them more opportunities to speak, and also to improve their participation. Pink refers to this type of intrinsic motivation as mastery (2009). He describes mastery as wanting to get better at something that is considered to be important. I found that by the end of the school year many of my students started to request that we Harkness in a fishbowl because it bettered the learning environment and it also allowed for them to speak more often and to become better participants. Those that did not like fishbowl Harknesses as much as discussions involving the entire class, suggested that the fishbowls limited the amount of student opinions during each discussion, leading to less informative conversations.
I also found that towards the end of the year students started to take pride in our Harkness discussions and often seemed to really care about how effective they were for the overall learning of the class. In my 10th grade classes we would often spend up to 10 minutes after each discussion breaking down each part of the Harkness to assess its effectiveness. According to Pink this type of motivation is called purpose (2009). He says that this consists of a yearning to want to do something that benefits all those that are involved in the activity. The fact that my students started to take pride in their Harkness learning in the latter part of the year demonstrated to me that many of the strategies that I had implemented were working.
Like all research, this study had its limitations. I chose to focus on patterns of participation and how students experienced different types of Harkness discussions. While I was interested in how these discussions supported students’ understanding of historical events, I did not focus explicitly on how these discussions correlated with student achievement, as measured by standardized tests or classroom assessments. I also wished that I had conducted more student interviews after each Harkness discussion. Although I solicited extensive surveys and exit cards from students, I found that the few interviews that I did conduct with students often gave me the richest information.
In addition to the finding above, I also discovered some concrete methods that teachers can use to build more equitable Harkness discussions, or any kind of conversations, in their classes – regardless of the subject that they teach.
Tips for teachers who wish to support equitable classroom discussions
Be mindful of the gender differences.
Girls and boys generally participate differently around the Harkness table and in classroom discussions. In order to ensure equity in your classroom I would suggest varying how you implement discussions. I found that girls preferred more structure and a stronger teacher presence in the discussion than do boys, to ensure that all voices were heard. Boys preferred less teacher involvement in the actual discussion, but preferred their comments and opinions to be challenged by the teacher. During my study many girls preferred to know what they were going to be discussing in advance of the actual Harkness. Girls were more motivated to participate by a grade, while boys seemed more motivated by influencing their peers regardless of the grade.
Use wait-time
Anxiety can often be high among students during a Harkness discussion, particularly if they know that their actions are being graded. It is therefore recommended that the teacher develops an environment that helps students feel comfortable expressing their opinions. I found that it was very important to allow students enough time to develop their thoughts in response to a teacher or student-posed question. This is often extremely difficult to accomplish because teachers are often worried that silence during discussion will result in diminished flow of conversation and that this might reduce the overall impact of the Harkness discussion and learning environment for students. I found the opposite to be true. Allowing students time to develop their ideas before speaking, by journaling a bit on the question or just pausing to think, lead to higher level student responses and ultimately a greater frequency of responses from the class. Educational experts will agree that wait time of up to seven seconds is not too long to wait for students to formulate an answer before speaking.
Be brave and use Harkness before the students have learned anything from you
My research convinced me that Harkness was often more exciting and engaging when students were encountering a topic for the first time First, it allowed students the freedom to practice their conversation skills in a Harkness setting without the pressures of having to recall material under the scrutiny of their teacher. My findings showed that giving students a “fresh” topic to discuss often dramatically increased student participation. An exit card from one student in particular said that he participated in a new topic because he “...was not sure where the conversation was going to go”. Second, introducing a new unit of study in this way allows teachers to gauge specific student understanding of the topic and will facilitate better lesson and assessment planning for the duration of the unit.
Establish or reiterate Harkness “norms” before each discussion
Harkness “norms” are rules that the class should establish at the beginning of the school year. These rules are the expectations that the students and teacher are expected to abide by during each discussion. These “norms” can be as obvious as ensuring that only one person speaks at a time, or that students should take notes during each discussion. They can also be more complex and could include something my class implemented into their “norms” which said that all participants should be “hard on content and soft on person”, or that Harkness participants should “step up and step back”, meaning no one person should dominate the conversation at the table and all should particpate. Once norms have been established it is vital that teachers review them with students before each and every Harkness discussion. This focused my students and reminded them of the seriousness of each and every Harkness discussion that we had. I recommend that teachers actually ask a student to act as a scribe and write down the “norms” of the group as students called them out before the Harkness. Having them present on the board during the discussion will also ensure a more focused and successful Harkness discussion. I experimented by not establishing class “norms” at the beginning of a few discussions and the overall results were always that the learning environment was significantly lessened as a result.
Get student feedback after each Harkness discussion
Teachers often think that they have a good idea about how their classes and students operate on a daily basis. While this might often be true, when it comes to developing and implementing successful Harkness discussions the variables surrounding this practice are often too great for one person to quantify. Do teachers really know what the student who didn’t say anything during the Harkness is thinking about during the process? I was fascinated to see the responses from students after I started eliciting feedback after each discussion. Often the students who said very little showed a deep understanding of the discussion topic and seemed to get more out of the discussion than might have been suggested by their involvement (or lack of).
It is important to gather the student feedback soon after the discussion has ended. Waiting until the next class might mean that students have totally forgotten what transpired and might also have not remembered some of the nuances of what happened during the discussion. Responses to questions as simple as, “what worked for you during this discussion?” or “what did not work for you in this Harkness?” can give teachers valuable insight into how the class dynamic is during Harkness discussions and the teacher can then plan accordingly for the next discussion. I also recommend asking students for feedback on the teacher’s facilitation as the leader of the discussion. This is extremely important because teachers might be displaying behaviors that limit equity at the table and could be the unaware of this. I generally found that students were honest when asked to evaluate my facilitation and were more inclined to do so honestly if I said that the feedback was going to be useful in furthering overall student learning. I also found that if I honestly said that I wanted to improve as a Harkness facilitator that students were more honest and provided useful feedback for me on my facilitation.
Ask students to summarize what has been said during the discussion
Many 10th grade students are starting to become politically active and I have found that at this age teenagers are eager to express their opinions. In a social studies classroom this might mean that a discussion about the Treaty of Versailles could mean that students use current conflicts around the world as a way of explaining their points. While this is often valuable to the overall learning of the students it can result in the conversation getting sidetracked and becoming something about Afghanistan in the 21st century rather than about initial focus question. If the main objective of the Harkness discussion was to teach students about the Treaty of Versailles it is important that the conversation eventually revert back to this topic. A teacher who is serious about effective facilitation and is committed to developing student equity in his or her classroom should be wary of simply saying that the topic of conversation is no longer focused and should return to the original target question. Doing this might risk invalidating a possible connection the student was trying to make, or alienating those students that only are interested in discussing current events. A method more committed to ensuring full student inclusion has the teacher ask a student to summarize what has been said in the discussion. This usually gently refocuses students on the original intent of the conversation and sends the message that open dialog is also a valuable part of the class.
My study set out to determine how I could encourage more equitable participation in the classroom, particularly during Harkness discussions. The complexities that were associated with this were endless and it seemed that as soon as I implemented something that might make for increased participation it offset something else, making for difficult collection and analysis of data. However, I did discover a few things related to how factors like gender, discussion topics, and the structure of the conversation influenced student participation and motivation at the Harkness table.
I consider the verbal participation of students in a classroom to be one of the most significantly important parts of their education. Students who learn to effectively express their ideas in a group of their peers stand a better chance of being effective in the work force once they leave school when one considers the importance of face to face conversation in most work places. Harkness teaching not only allows for students to develop their verbal skills in the classroom, it also teaches them to how to enter into the conversations of others. The practice also helps students to become good listeners as well as individuals who are able to consider the ideas of others, and then build these ideas in a conversation. In short, Harkness participants learn to become excellent communicators while they are at school and learn a vital lifelong skill. Students who commit themselves to becoming good Harkness participants at Pacific Ridge School will, when spoken to, challenge the assumption that perfect test scores are the most important indicator of educational success. Instead, they cite the importance of having an opinion and being able to defend it.
Gender Differences
Gender differences played a significant role during this study in determining how I designed discussions for students. I found that the differences in the participation levels of students could often be directly attributed to the differences in how boys and girls conducted themselves during a Harkness discussion. Even when I introduced a new strategy that I thought would benefit all students I often found that it was significantly more beneficial to either the male or female students in my class. For example, I found that female 10th grade students were significantly more motivated to participate in Harkness discussions when I explicitly stated that I would be assigning a grade for each student during proceedings. This theory is supported by Leonard Sax who says that girls are more success driven and “...tend to do their homework to a higher standard even if they are not interested in the content”. (2005, p.80) Another significant finding that I encountered as I increased the frequency of Harkness discussions in my 10th grade history classes was that overall I saw girls speaking less around the Harkness table, even when grades were in question. However, girls contributions were often more thoughtful and focused on the topic at hand. As the year went on, there seemed to be a growing understanding that it was not necessarily the frequency of a student’s remarks at the Harkness table that furthers the conversation, but what students actually said that mattered. Boys showed less anxiety to speak at the Harkness table but their comments, as I found out through gathering student feedback, were generally less valued by the overall class (Their own gender included). Girls were able to stick to the discussion topic more easily and seemed less willing to speak simply to be heard by the group, which usually led to more productive discussions.
Girls were also less pleased to allow the Harkness discussion to be student lead and liked the teacher to play a more dominant role during discussions, particularly to ensure that all voices were heard. I conducted experiments during certain discussions to determine what sort of input the teacher has in determining the quality of each discussion. Sometimes I would push my chair a few feet back from the table and each time I noted that this caused anxiety to develop in a number of my female students. Conversation maps would later show that the frequency of male contributions to the discussions rose significantly when the teacher was not a part of the discussion. Sax (2005) suggests that girls expect the teacher to be on their side and to stick up for them. He also concluded that boys handle moderate stress better than girls and that this moderate stress results in weaker results for girls. Girls were more inclined to speak when I was an active participant during conversations which suggests that they might have felt more comfortable participating when they saw me as an ally in the conversation. Having a teacher be a part of conversations usually resulted in fewer arguments among the students, and students less inclined to interrupt each other. Sax (2005) has shown that girls prefer this sort of environment. Boys also gave their opinion more often whether they thought it is going to be widely accepted by the group or not. Girls on the other hand tended to be more cautious and not always ready to take a side during a controversial discussion topic. The frequency and quality of comments made by female student was however significantly increased and the quality of each comment improved if I gave the class the discussion topic in advance. If girls knew in advance the discussion topic it significantly increased how often they spoke and the length of their comments. This supports Sax’s theory that girls work harder to do better, grade wise at school, and that they are less comfortable with the unknown than are their male peers (2005). Giving the discussion topic a few days in advance of the Harkness discussion had little impact on the frequency, quality and duration of comments made by male students in my classes.
Factors influencing student motivation to participate
The overall motivation of students was difficult to measure because many of the same methods that I introduced to the class seemed to have different results depending on the day. For example, my students (not unlike some adults) were less inclined to be motivated to speak on Mondays than they were later in the week. I could introduce a strategy to increase student participation during one discussion and have excellent participation levels for the class, only to implement the same strategy two days later using a different discussion topic and be met with a class unwilling to participate.
However, there were a few factors that emerged as important no matter the day. For example, I found that the topic of discussion that I introduced was very important. Many students naturally gravitated towards topics that allowed them to form an opinion during the discussion. This supports Daniel Pink’s theory of autonomy (2009). Pink describes autonomy as a desire for people to direct their own lives. Many of my students experienced increased motivation around the Harkness table when they were able to debate on a topic that allowed them to freely form and express their opinions. They said that this most often occurred when they either chose the topic of discussions themselves, or had a say in what they were going to discuss. My exit cards showed that the young people in my classes were eager to express their opinions and I found that they thought that the Harkness table was an excellent place in which to do so.
I also experimented with developing topics of discussion with the idea that I wanted to try to determine if students were more interested in discussing material that they have already learned or a new, “fresh” topic. The rationale here was that I wanted to determine if Harkness discussions were best implemented as a teaching tool to assist in teaching new material or if Harkness was better used as a way to reinforce already learned content. I found that Harkness learning works well for both. It is an effective way of reviewing already learned material and can be a more interesting way for students to recall facts and concepts than having them complete a formal assessment or a writing assignment. Using the Harkness teaching method as a way of introducing new material was also very effective because it allowed me to pre-determine student knowledge of our upcoming units of study, which then allowed me to plan effectively to ensure that I was not teaching my students material that they had prior knowledge of. This was effective for my 10th grade Modern World History course because it allowed me to focus on relevant teaching material and ensured that I could complete our rigorous study of the 20th century by the end of the school year. Student surveys, exit cards, and interviews allowed me to conclude that opinion was evenly split on whether students preferred to Harkness on new material before a unit of study or to use Harkness to reinforce already learned content. By offering students choice by allowing them to Harkness on the different material again supports Pink’s theory of autonomy which claims that choice will further motivate people (2009).
I found it useful to use fishbowl Harkness discussions in both my 10th and 7th grade classes. Students said that dividing the class into two to allow for smaller more focused discussions, generally resulted in more equitable participation. Most preferred this method because they said that it allowed each individual student more time to build their argument and that there was less competition to speak. Some mentioned that the fishbowl discussions allowed them more opportunities to speak, and also to improve their participation. Pink refers to this type of intrinsic motivation as mastery (2009). He describes mastery as wanting to get better at something that is considered to be important. I found that by the end of the school year many of my students started to request that we Harkness in a fishbowl because it bettered the learning environment and it also allowed for them to speak more often and to become better participants. Those that did not like fishbowl Harknesses as much as discussions involving the entire class, suggested that the fishbowls limited the amount of student opinions during each discussion, leading to less informative conversations.
I also found that towards the end of the year students started to take pride in our Harkness discussions and often seemed to really care about how effective they were for the overall learning of the class. In my 10th grade classes we would often spend up to 10 minutes after each discussion breaking down each part of the Harkness to assess its effectiveness. According to Pink this type of motivation is called purpose (2009). He says that this consists of a yearning to want to do something that benefits all those that are involved in the activity. The fact that my students started to take pride in their Harkness learning in the latter part of the year demonstrated to me that many of the strategies that I had implemented were working.
Like all research, this study had its limitations. I chose to focus on patterns of participation and how students experienced different types of Harkness discussions. While I was interested in how these discussions supported students’ understanding of historical events, I did not focus explicitly on how these discussions correlated with student achievement, as measured by standardized tests or classroom assessments. I also wished that I had conducted more student interviews after each Harkness discussion. Although I solicited extensive surveys and exit cards from students, I found that the few interviews that I did conduct with students often gave me the richest information.
In addition to the finding above, I also discovered some concrete methods that teachers can use to build more equitable Harkness discussions, or any kind of conversations, in their classes – regardless of the subject that they teach.
Tips for teachers who wish to support equitable classroom discussions
Be mindful of the gender differences.
Girls and boys generally participate differently around the Harkness table and in classroom discussions. In order to ensure equity in your classroom I would suggest varying how you implement discussions. I found that girls preferred more structure and a stronger teacher presence in the discussion than do boys, to ensure that all voices were heard. Boys preferred less teacher involvement in the actual discussion, but preferred their comments and opinions to be challenged by the teacher. During my study many girls preferred to know what they were going to be discussing in advance of the actual Harkness. Girls were more motivated to participate by a grade, while boys seemed more motivated by influencing their peers regardless of the grade.
Use wait-time
Anxiety can often be high among students during a Harkness discussion, particularly if they know that their actions are being graded. It is therefore recommended that the teacher develops an environment that helps students feel comfortable expressing their opinions. I found that it was very important to allow students enough time to develop their thoughts in response to a teacher or student-posed question. This is often extremely difficult to accomplish because teachers are often worried that silence during discussion will result in diminished flow of conversation and that this might reduce the overall impact of the Harkness discussion and learning environment for students. I found the opposite to be true. Allowing students time to develop their ideas before speaking, by journaling a bit on the question or just pausing to think, lead to higher level student responses and ultimately a greater frequency of responses from the class. Educational experts will agree that wait time of up to seven seconds is not too long to wait for students to formulate an answer before speaking.
Be brave and use Harkness before the students have learned anything from you
My research convinced me that Harkness was often more exciting and engaging when students were encountering a topic for the first time First, it allowed students the freedom to practice their conversation skills in a Harkness setting without the pressures of having to recall material under the scrutiny of their teacher. My findings showed that giving students a “fresh” topic to discuss often dramatically increased student participation. An exit card from one student in particular said that he participated in a new topic because he “...was not sure where the conversation was going to go”. Second, introducing a new unit of study in this way allows teachers to gauge specific student understanding of the topic and will facilitate better lesson and assessment planning for the duration of the unit.
Establish or reiterate Harkness “norms” before each discussion
Harkness “norms” are rules that the class should establish at the beginning of the school year. These rules are the expectations that the students and teacher are expected to abide by during each discussion. These “norms” can be as obvious as ensuring that only one person speaks at a time, or that students should take notes during each discussion. They can also be more complex and could include something my class implemented into their “norms” which said that all participants should be “hard on content and soft on person”, or that Harkness participants should “step up and step back”, meaning no one person should dominate the conversation at the table and all should particpate. Once norms have been established it is vital that teachers review them with students before each and every Harkness discussion. This focused my students and reminded them of the seriousness of each and every Harkness discussion that we had. I recommend that teachers actually ask a student to act as a scribe and write down the “norms” of the group as students called them out before the Harkness. Having them present on the board during the discussion will also ensure a more focused and successful Harkness discussion. I experimented by not establishing class “norms” at the beginning of a few discussions and the overall results were always that the learning environment was significantly lessened as a result.
Get student feedback after each Harkness discussion
Teachers often think that they have a good idea about how their classes and students operate on a daily basis. While this might often be true, when it comes to developing and implementing successful Harkness discussions the variables surrounding this practice are often too great for one person to quantify. Do teachers really know what the student who didn’t say anything during the Harkness is thinking about during the process? I was fascinated to see the responses from students after I started eliciting feedback after each discussion. Often the students who said very little showed a deep understanding of the discussion topic and seemed to get more out of the discussion than might have been suggested by their involvement (or lack of).
It is important to gather the student feedback soon after the discussion has ended. Waiting until the next class might mean that students have totally forgotten what transpired and might also have not remembered some of the nuances of what happened during the discussion. Responses to questions as simple as, “what worked for you during this discussion?” or “what did not work for you in this Harkness?” can give teachers valuable insight into how the class dynamic is during Harkness discussions and the teacher can then plan accordingly for the next discussion. I also recommend asking students for feedback on the teacher’s facilitation as the leader of the discussion. This is extremely important because teachers might be displaying behaviors that limit equity at the table and could be the unaware of this. I generally found that students were honest when asked to evaluate my facilitation and were more inclined to do so honestly if I said that the feedback was going to be useful in furthering overall student learning. I also found that if I honestly said that I wanted to improve as a Harkness facilitator that students were more honest and provided useful feedback for me on my facilitation.
Ask students to summarize what has been said during the discussion
Many 10th grade students are starting to become politically active and I have found that at this age teenagers are eager to express their opinions. In a social studies classroom this might mean that a discussion about the Treaty of Versailles could mean that students use current conflicts around the world as a way of explaining their points. While this is often valuable to the overall learning of the students it can result in the conversation getting sidetracked and becoming something about Afghanistan in the 21st century rather than about initial focus question. If the main objective of the Harkness discussion was to teach students about the Treaty of Versailles it is important that the conversation eventually revert back to this topic. A teacher who is serious about effective facilitation and is committed to developing student equity in his or her classroom should be wary of simply saying that the topic of conversation is no longer focused and should return to the original target question. Doing this might risk invalidating a possible connection the student was trying to make, or alienating those students that only are interested in discussing current events. A method more committed to ensuring full student inclusion has the teacher ask a student to summarize what has been said in the discussion. This usually gently refocuses students on the original intent of the conversation and sends the message that open dialog is also a valuable part of the class.