How can teachers effectively facilitate discussion on “heavier” topics?
Today “Ms. Sommer” gave another lesson in practicum – this time, in a Grade 10 English class. The lesson was focused on “Gift for the Darkness” from The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This chapter is filled with themes of increasing savagery and brutality, with intense allusion to the darkness of human nature. As a student teacher, initially I was nervous to approach this subject. How could I comfortably hold an engaging, meaningful discussion about such a topic? Yet after some thought and preparation, I realized that it wasn’t something to fear.
Discussing “heavy” topics in class should not be shied away from; in fact, it’s important to explore deep, meaningful themes from texts in a safe classroom environment. Doing so simply requires structure and intentional facilitation techniques.
Here are some methods I found helpful in facilitating an English lesson on this topic of evil and darkness.
Chat stations
To begin the lesson, a brainstorming activity focuses students’ thoughts and allows the teacher to deepen the ideas students themselves have come up with throughout the lesson. I wrote discussion questions on large pieces of paper set up around the room, and the students rotated around in groups of 5 to jot down their ideas and memorable quotations from the text. The questions steered students in the direction of exploring the dark themes of the chapter and provided the basis of our greater class discussion.
This was a helpful exercise to gauge where students were at and what they would be comfortable discussing. When the themes appeared later in class discussion, they were less confrontational or shocking.
Quick write
After our class discussion, I wanted to give the students an outlet to process their learning and reflect on how the “heavy” themes of the chapter impacted them personally. I gave the students 3 questions to answer on a sheet of paper and encouraged them to write freely and informally, with the simple aim of getting their thoughts on paper. This “application” and “reflection” exercise provided a basis for the closing activity and was an outlet for making the learning more meaningful to the students personally.
Mentimeter
To make the students’ closing thoughts to the discussion and Quick Write visible to everyone, I used Mentimeter to finish off the lesson. This platform allows students to submit thoughts anonymously and see them listed on the screen. I found this an effective “exit ticket” method to allow students to see each other’s thinking on the “heavy” topic and tie up the lesson.
While there are a plethora of different ways to approach sensitive or difficult topics for class discussion, I found these 3 techniques effective in my lesson on “Gift for the Darkness.” They were a valuable way to facilitate meaningful learning throughout the different parts of the lesson.
What are some of your favourite facilitation techniques for “tricky” topics?
Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash