Ideas

IDEA #8: Talking Perspectives: Point-Counterpoint

“Perhaps they were expecting another point-counterpoint slugfest. What we hoped to deliver, however, was a model of respectful disagreement on a host of sensitive topics.”²

Learning Intention

Disagreement can be challenging to navigate well, and many students may have only seen it done poorly. In teaching critical thinking, it is important to model for students how to engage in debates with civility and an aim of understanding one another to open new perspectives. Witnessing two professors or well-respected professionals publicly disagree on important issues within their expertise is intriguing for students and ignites their curiosity while also showing them what civil discourse can look like.²

Overview

Ideally suited to team-teaching scenarios, this approach could also work by inviting guest speakers to engage with one another or with the professor in an unscripted discussion of an issue pertaining to course content on which they have divergent perspectives.^1,2

Instructions

1. Model respectful questioning. It is important for students to see by example “how to pose questions that ask for evidence without attaching judgmental elements to them.”¹ These might include questions like: “Can you tell me more about …?” “Why do you think that’s the case?” “What’s the most convincing piece of evidence for that view?” and “How would you respond to [this] research that challenges your position?”¹

2. Model respectful disagreement. Students learning to think critically and engage in debate need to learn tools for protecting civility and relationships in doing that. “It’s important that we can see that people with two different options can respect each other’s opinion and still get along and work together.”² Model responses like, “I take a different view on this and here’s why” or “My approach doesn’t emphasize the same things; here’s my line of analysis.”¹

3. Model humility. Be ready to admit your own limits of knowledge and willing to express shifts in your own thinking, and help students acquire the vocabulary to do that, too.¹ You might model phrases like “I never thought about it that way,” or “That’s an excellent point.”²

Considerations

• Decide beforehand how much preparation or structure to give participants. You might have the students and presenters all read the same article as a point of discussion. Questions could be prepared ahead or posed spontaneously during the discussion.
• Authenticity is a valuable part of the lesson. Letting students see the "aha" moments or points of frustration on participants' faces and modeling how to proceed forward through those awkward moments toward greater understanding and insight is both exciting and informative for students. "As one student put it, 'You guys learn new things from each other every day, so it is like you are learning with us. And that creates a good atmosphere in class.'"²
• Engage students in the process by letting them pose questions or act as moderators of the debate. Invite them to respond by summarizing their thoughts and reactions in a "one-minute paper" at the end of the debate or even to continue the conversation on a discussion board after class.

References