The Role of Class Discussion in a Writing Class
Defining PWR courses as “workshops” assumes that
students will do some writing in every class and that the other
work of the class will all support that writing. It is very important
that students understand that the workshop environment central
to a successful writing course is different from a discussion
section for a lecture class. Let students know a writing course
centers on their writing; that the course readings are to be
studied and analyzed from a writer’s perspective; and that
they should arrive at class ready to work as writers, which includes
responding to the work of others in specific ways.
At the same time, within a class based on a writing workshop
approach, you will still want to lead effective whole-class discussions
(and, indeed, even to provide some brief lectures from time to
time). As with small-group work, you should plan carefully for
class discussion:
- Schedule whole-class discussions when you are approaching
a new writing assignment or when a majority of the students
clearly don’t understand a concept or cannot enact a
principle you are teaching. When possible, incorporate a writing
activity that focuses the students on what you want them to
take away from the discussion;
- Consider a small-group activity that prepares students for
the whole-class discussion, such as asking small groups to
work on a problem together (writing out their conclusions)
before you tackle it as a whole class;
- Remember that good class discussion means that the students
are doing most of the talking. Much research on teachers in
college classrooms reveals that this principle is a hard one
to adopt: study after study shows that teachers tend to do
the overwhelming majority of the talking and take the largest
number of “turns” in class. Experienced teachers
of writing sometimes ask a student to serve as “observer” for
a day, jotting down who speaks, in what order, and for how
long and then giving a brief report to the class next day.
An exercise of this kind may reveal very interesting dynamics
for the class, and the teacher, to consider;
- Try for a balance in the discussion, not letting one or two
students dominate and aiming for as much participation and
engagement as possible. You may need to call on students in
order to achieve this balance, or to assign discussants to
lead the class;
- Use questions carefully. They can often help keep students
on track in a discussion, but students quickly perceive when
an instructor is asking a question to which he or she has a
pre-ordained “right” answer;
- At the beginning of
term, take responsibility for summing up the discussion, for
highlighting similarities and differences of (always informed)
opinion, and commenting on the quality of the students’ discussion.
As the term progresses, students can share this responsibility.
