Here’s Margaret Morganroth Gullette’s greatdescription of feelings associated with discussion. “Discussion … can feellight-weight, loose jointed, like holding hands in zero gravity. The sense ofweightlessness can overcome you—even if you’re good enough at leadingdiscussion so that your students are uninhibited and exploratory; even if youguide it subtly by the weight of a question or an inquiring gesture; even ifyou’re sure that at each session they’ve learned three new ideas in the mostunforgettable way, by discovering them and stating them themselves.” (p.32)

My mentor and friend Gene Melander was over for lunch yesterday. His alwaysactive mind is currently exploring how metaphors, imagination, and educationintersect. Our conversation makes me mindful of the metaphors in thisquotation. Do you replay discussions that have occurred in your class? I liketo retrace discussion exchanges I’ve had in my workshops, although I almostalways leave these revisits a bit depressed. When I think about a question thatwas asked and how I responded or I remember a question I asked about a commentoffered, I can almost always think of better responses—ways to say it moreclearly, stronger evidence to support the point, more openness to a newperspective. Why didn’t I think of that then?

The quote gets at the out-of-control feeling that always a part ofdiscussion. You may know the answer you hope to get when you ask a question andif it’s a straightforward, closed question (like the numerical answer to aproblem), you may get it. But if it’s an open-ended query, one designed to getstudents thinking, who knows what you’ll hear. You may well get somethingyou’ve never imagined—something you’ve never thought about, something you haveno idea how to respond to. That’s the loose-jointed, free-floating feeling thequote so ably describes.

What I don’t feel in the quote is the excitement inherently a part of themetaphor. With weightlessness comes freedom, a profound change that makesmovement everywhere a possibility. Discussion offers that to teachers as well.Ideas link in unexpected ways, taking thinking to new levels of insight andunderstanding. When discussion goes well, the author is correct, students canlearn ideas in unforgettable ways—so can teachers. That makes discussion worththe risks it involves.

Reference: Gullette, M. M. (1992). Leading discussion in alecture course: Some maxims and exhortation. Change, (March/April),32-39.

Teaching Professor