Resource of Note: Deliberation in Democracy

Many times Social Studies teachers (and teachers of all disciplines), tend to focus their ideas around classroom discussion around the idea of a debate.  Two sides are assigned a position and they support their position using facts taught in the class.  However, this type of discussion can often leave students feeling like they cannot fully express their creativity, as well as with an understanding of only one side of the argument.

However, a new website, http://www.deliberating.org/, offers educators a chance to break that mold by getting students to deliberate. Deliberating.org outlines a format of a class where students are challenged to understand both sides of the argument, backed up by supporting evidence, before being allowed to drop their roles and argue for the side they prefer.  Unlike a traditional debate, the lessons provided at Deliberating.org focus on the idea of seeking truth rather than winning the argument.  The website offers resources for a variety of topics, from Cyberbullying/First Amendment rights to Global Climate Change and Juvenile Justice.

While full instructions on using this resource can be found here, I will provide a brief synopsis below:
1) Explain to the class that today you will be Deliberating.  Emphasize the difference between a discussion (no clear end goal), a debate (trying to win), and a deliberation (trying to understand).
2) Have students go through the assigned reading about the appropriate topic.  Deliberating.org provides readings for each of their topics, but you could also choose your own topic and reading.  Also, I recommend assigning this for homework rather than having students read the whole thing during a class period.
3) Divide the class into groups (ideally 4 per group) and two teams (A and B) within each group
4) Introduce the "deliberation question" (you can use the ones provided or come up with your own)
4)  Instruct Team A to write down the most compelling reasons to SUPPORT the question, while Team B will write down the most compelling reason to OPPOSE (10 mins)
5)  Each team will explain their reasons to the other, remind the students that they are only EXPLAINING not  DEFENDING (6 mins)
6)  The teams will then REVERSE ROLES and Team A will have to explain the reasons for OPPOSING to TEAM B and vice versa (4 mins)
7)  Finally, group members are allowed to drop their roles and deliberate the question, attempting to arrive at a conclusion.  This can be done still within the groups or in a whole class format.
8)  There is also a useful reflection provided in PDF form on the website

While containing more steps than a traditional debate, this format can really lead to more fruitful discussions within the classroom.  In addition, it hits on multiple levels of Bloom's, requiring students to ANALYZE text as well as EVALUATE arguments from multiple perspectives.

Reflection/Tips:

-Be sure to explain/discuss with students the differences between a deliberation, discussion, and debate before the class begins
- Based on experience trying it both ways, I would STRONGLY recommend requiring the reading for homework so that the class period is not the first time they see it.  If you are concerned that students will not read it, warn them that there may be a reading quiz over the material, and follow through with that promise
- Do not shy away from choosing your own topics.  All you really need to do is find a useful article (newspaper or magazine) and develop a deliberation statement and you are good to go.