The secret superheroes in your classroom

Oracy and Healthy Discourse

BETTY NORDENGREN

What Is Oracy?

Oracy is the art of expressing yourself clearly and grammatically through speech

Why Teach Oracy and Discourse?

Through the practice of teaching students to hold civil conversations, they also learn:

• Self-identity
• Emotional self-management
• The value of empathy
• Active-listening skills
• Good decision making skills

Why Teach Oracy and Discourse?

Evidence shows that a high-quality, oracy-rich education can:

• improve academic outcomes;
• increase confidence and well-being; and
• give students tools to thrive as adults.

To Overcome Polarization . . .

We must learn to communicate with

people who think differently than us.

We Are . . .

ALL CIVICS TEACHERS

In every class and discipline,

• we teach discussion;
• we model problem-solving; and
• we work through disagreements with others who think differently.

3 Easy Steps to Creating Inclusive Healthy Discourse in Your Class

1

• As a class, create norms, expectations, and rubrics for behavior during discussion.
• Pick an open issue that will not be insulting to anyone in the room.
• Emphasize this is a deliberation. We can learn from each other. We are not trying to win an argument.

3

• Pick the right strategy and give feedback to maximize growth.
• Strategy ideas:
• Structured Academic Controversy
• Problem-based design challenge
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

2

• Give students tools, such as sentence stems and organizational groupings to facilitate collaboration and cooperation.
• Craft your prompt carefully to encourage growth and the opportunity to learn from each other.

Rubrics • Sentence Starters • Norms

I hear you say __, and I think __.

I think differently, because . . .

Class Norms

• Brave and kind
• Actively listen
• Stay on topic
• Include everyone
• Speak respectfully
• Explain our thinking

Healthy Discourse to the Rescue for Multilingual Students

More than 5 million

• Multilingual students in the US public school system (NCES, 2021).

Multilingual students need talk time

• Multilingual students need a safe and structured place to practice and learn new speaking and listening skills.

Sentence stems

• Sentences stems give students the support needed to frame discussion points so that all students can find their voice.

Group norms

• Student-crafted group norms set the stage for healthy discussion and respect.

Dealing with Parental Concerns

Parents can be assured that well-structured discourse lessons are not the same as what we experience in online echo chambers, in the media, or in publicized protests.

Features of well-structured discourse include the following:

• Student evidence and reasons are based on research (by lesson design).
• Students must learn about the issues and respect other viewpoints.
• Group norms keep the discussion inclusive and safe.
• By the end of the discussion, students have heard all sides of the topic.

Some teachers and parents have hesitation about increased classroom discussion. It is true that we live in polarized times, but there are some key features of well-structured classroom talk that protect its integrity.

What Does a Good Civil Discourse Lesson Look Like?

• Students research to prepare for the discussion.
• Students respectfully restate others' views to build and find common ground.
• Students listen to understand, not to argue their next speaking point.
• Students question, engage, and include their peers.
• The tone is always respectful, never derogatory.
• Students consider their own viewpoints before, during, and after and reflect on changes in perspective or increased awareness.
• Students receive feedback from teachers and their peers on performance to foster growth in discourse skills.

How Do I Handle . . . ?

A monopolizing student

• Refer the student back to the classroom norms.
• Use timed speaking limits.
• Use guided student reflections on speaking behavior to help students develop awareness.

Mayhem (there won’t be)

• Stop the discussion and refer back to classroom norms.
• Ask students to reflect in writing on their ideas about what happened and think-pair-share with a partner to help understand and discuss, and then process as a group.

A tragedy in the news

• This is not the time to debate the issue. Discussions should be focused on topics that are not raw and painful to anyone in the room. This is time for a discussion about feelings and reactions, not debates.

Are You Ready? Tips and Tricks

• You will improve with practice, so keep practicing. This is not a one-time lesson. It is a routine.
• Your job is to help students learn to discuss topics, not to teach the students to believe the same as you. Don’t teach in a biased way.
• Observe other teachers using discourse strategies online or in real life to see how a well-structured lesson looks. There are many video lessons and lesson plans already out there to learn from; Sphere has many on its website.
• Use rubrics for assessment of all stages of the discourse process: preparation, participation, and reflection. This will help students grow in their understanding of topics and their discussion skills.

What Are the Benefits?

Students gain:

• communication skills;
• relationship skills;
• clarity on their own beliefs; and
• empathy for people with differing belief systems.

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Students find their voice and learn to respect the voices of others.