194 Part III: Teaching Skills Classes
Creating structure in the discussion
A 20-minute discussion doesn’t just happen by itself in most cases. Unless
you happen to strike on a golden topic, you’re likely to find that the conversa-
tion dries up within ten minutes.
The best way to avoid this is by using a slow reveal method. By this I mean
that you can feed in the details one by one, adding another piece of informa-
tion every so often. It’s like putting in another piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
For example, the class begins by discussing how the government should use
a piece of land. The options may include a shopping centre, a housing estate,
or a nature reserve. After the students give their initial reaction you can give
them information about the local population and problems that are prevalent
in the area. This may change their minds somewhat. Before they make a final
decision you can tell the students about the surrounding towns and other
building developments taking place nearby. By adding the information gradu-
ally students explore different perspectives and extend the dialogue.
You can also move people around. So, one group can think of all the pros
of an argument and another group all the cons. Then you can regroup the
class so that each group contains students with both pros and cons. Assign
a spokesperson for each group who has the responsibility of reporting to
the class the final decision of the group. You’ll find this more effective than
simply saying, ‘Talk about... ’.
Paying attention without taking over
While the students are having a good old chat, don’t just go off to the teach-
ers’ room for a cup of tea. You need to monitor the dialogue so that you know
when to add a point to fuel the discussion.
Of course, this doesn’t give you licence to talk about all your opinions. It’s
time for the students to speak, remember.
However, as you monitor, you may notice that one student is rather too quiet
and needs a prompt from you to get involved. Apart from this, you also need
to have your pen and paper ready so that you can note errors and teaching
points for your feedback session or for a future lesson.
