Here are some reasons why I occasionally don't talk in group settings. (1) I don't feel confident in what I have to offer. (2) I don't understand my role in the social situation. (3) I don't trust the people in the group.
I would argue that the primary reasons classroom discussions fall apart are pretty similar to that list. For this post, I'm going to focus on the first two points, as the last one was addressed in my previous post.
Both of these first two concepts comes down to a lack of confidence, either in their knowledge or their social role. It's not at all surprised. Think about how we so often do discussion in school. It's a one-and-done thing. The student gets a rough draft, which is presented in front of everyone, and that's it. Then they have to move on and pretend they aren't second-guessing their words. How are we surprised that kids are terrified of this? I'm terrified thinking about it. Let's not forget that we are also asking them to do this while their amygdala is hijacked, kicking them into a state of fight, flight, or freeze. Like, no one's walking out of that situation going, "Loved it. Can't wait for the next one." Half the time people are going, "I think I blacked out. What happened? Did anything happen?"
The key comes down to confidence, and so often we forget that we have the capacity to build confidence in our learners. We have to be intentional about it, though, especially during remote learning. The ability to avoid interacting is so easy that any barrier, any sense of fear will have students retreating behind their blank screens immediately.
So, what does it look like to scaffold learning in a way that builds confidence?
There are a number of ways, but here's what I've studied and found to work for me.
1. It has to start with individual processing.
I don't care if you want to ask students just a simple question. Give them time to process their answer first. They need to know that they have something to offer, that they have something to say. Step one of building confidence is giving the student space to think rationally and reasonably before they are put on the spot. I have never built confidence by being put on the spot, but if I've had time to prepare an answer, that's a different story.
I prefer to actually have them do this in writing because the physical (or digital) presence of the response, something they can actually read straight off of, if needed, is a way to build a safety net. That's always a key for me. Does the student have things they can fall back on. If not, they won't build their confidence because they are so afraid of falling without something there to catch them.
So, no matter how complex the question, provide intentional space for students to process their answer individually.
Ideally, if you can somehow see these responses, that gives you a chance to give feedback and encouragement. Little things like, "I noticed you caught a really important detail about the plot," or "When you say _____, I can tell you are really developing a strong understanding of ____." Those comments can build huge boosts of confidence.
Note: avoid simple praise. It's not good for kids. Be specific and point out meaningful elements of the responses.
Remote/hybrid learning? Have students put it privately in the chat during the lesson, or have students answer a question in the LMS the day before.
2. Create a public forum for students to anonymously share their responses.
I used to skip this step, and it showed in the complexity of ideas. Once students have written down their own responses, have them share them with the rest of the class (anonymously, if your students need that). Then, give students time to read and steal ideas from others.
Why do this? The key reason is that students can find other information to strengthen their responses. Maybe they forgot something. Maybe they got a new example.
However, the other reason is that it gives the students a chance to compare their ideas with the rest of the class. If it's a debate, the student knows (typically) if there are other people who agree with them (building safety in community). If it's a critical response, they can see if their thinking aligns with what others thought.
The goal is to provide students an opportunity to go, "Okay, I'm not alone in this. Other people will agree with me or support me when I talk." The fear of being the outcast can be a huge barrier to building confidence for some students. Let them know they aren't alone.
If you want to take it a step further, have students comment on a few of their peer's responses, focusing specifically on identifying things they agree with or points that they liked. Let them build up each other's confidence.
Remote/hybrid learning? Use a tool like Padlet or a discussion forum in your LMS for students to share their responses. Ideally, if the tool has a spot for commenting and responses, even better.
3. Give them a chance to do some "rough drafts."
I got the chance to learn from Jeff Zwiers a few years back, and one of the strategies I took away is called
Stronger & Clearer. In this strategy, students pair up and get multiple rounds with new partners to answer the question. Every time they do, they try to make their idea stronger or clearer.
Is the first time scary? Sure, but they are only doing that with one other person, not in front of a crowd. Then they get to build up their answer and confidence, move on to the next partner, and build it up even more. We revise writing all the time, yet we expect students to have a perfect first draft for discussion.
The reason I started using this is, while I love building the confidence for all my students, it benefits my EL students greatly. They get the chance to really practice with the language, test their words, etc., before doing it in front of the group. How often do we leave our EL students out of the conversation because they are trying to find the right word to express a brilliant idea that the class then never gets to hear? Give them time to make their first draft better and better until they have something that confidently expresses their idea.
Remote/hybrid learning? Do partner breakout rooms so they can practice without the group listening in. If needed, have them document their key ideas on a shared slide or document.
4. Provide a clear structure, especially early on.
There are countless discussion protocols and strategies to use. While I have a few that I really like (a modified four corners discussion where teams have a chance to regroup and respond after initial statement is my favorite one), the goal here is simply to provide a routine, a structure that allows students the psychological safety of knowing what's going to happen. The unknowns of personal interactions are stressful enough, so provide clear guidelines for how the process works to help students feel like they can at least expect some things.
Remote/hybrid learning? Okay, so this is tough because there are so many discussion strategies, but I want to provide a tip. If you are doing any strategy where students choose sides or teams, you can now let students choose their breakout rooms on Chrome OS. That means you can do four corners and have them go into a breakout group depending on the corner, or you can do philosophical chairs and have students choose the breakout room they agree with.
5. Add roles (bonus if students select roles based on their strengths).
My favorite way to create roles for discussion groups is to ask the students to identify a strength they can bring to the group and then have them focus on doing that. There are also prescriptive roles that can work, but I have found that a strength-based approach to discussion roles makes a huge difference in ensuring students can engage in discussion groups in meaningful ways that help them walk away feeling good about the interaction.
Again, like before, the goal is to build a sense of psychological safety by providing things the student can expect. The point honestly isn't even that the students follow their roles perfectly. The point is that each student can go into a discussion understanding how to add value during the social interaction.
Key: Genuinely point out successes throughout the process.
Kids know when you're faking it. Don't even try. One of the most valuable things we can work on as educators is how to provide meaningful, genuine feedback on the fly. I could go on and on about feedback, but with discussions, the goal is to be able to highlight and celebrate the following things:
- Times where a student actually responded to a previous comment by building, clarifying, countering, etc.
- Ideas that students communicate, even if they aren't clearly expressed. Still identify the thinking.
- Risks - always celebrate the risks! And do it genuinely, not like, "Well, I am proud of you for trying." Kids know that's the equivalent of "Well, bless your heart." Say things instead like, "Talking in front of your peers is terrifying, but you all just proved you can do it," or "See how nobody else was willing to go first, and then you stepped out and took a risk by leading?" Avoid doing this too publicly, if possible, but it is so important in scaffolding up that confidence.
Final Thought:
Not only is it important to structure the individual discussion, but also think about how you are structuring sequences of discussions. If you class struggles to talk, don't start with something really complex. Start with a concept you know they understand well. Start with a fun or engaging topic, even if it's not related to the content.
Let's not overlook the importance of speaking and listening skills. We spend so much time on reading, writing, etc. that sometimes we just treat speaking and listening as a byproduct. In the modern age, they aren't. They are front and center in everything we do. Often, we create more media than we do text. That often requires speaking. We consume more video content than we do text. That requires listening skills.
If we really want to ensure our students are ready for the world, we can't send out people terrified of speaking because their confidence has been shattered. Not all students want or need to be a great speaker, but every student should feel confident enough to have that be a door that's open for them.
That's why scaffolding confidence is a crucial piece of our classrooms that we can't overlook. Not every kid should have to speak always, but every kid should feel confident enough to have that be an open door for them. That doesn't happen on accident. We have to intentionally build it into interactions whenever possible. It won't happen overnight, but if we help confidence grow inside each of our students, it can be an incredible thing to watch.
