Civil Discourse
Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities
Julie Stern, Consulting Editor
Corwin Teaching Essentials
Build civil discourse with courage, understanding, belonging, and empathy.
Discomfort lies at the heart of all learning and growth, especially concerning discussions on difficult and complex topics like climate change, slavery, and police brutality. This book presents ways to help teachers become strong facilitators—not endorsers—of contentious conversations to promote a stronger sense of community.
There are four themes that arise when exploring civil discourse: courage, understanding, belonging, and empathy. This book is organized around these themes, each chapter providing resources for educators to teach the skills of discourse with:
- How-to tips for bringing work beyond the classroom
- Chapter checklists to guide progress and assess learning
- Exploration of different types of discourse (dialogue, discussion, debate) and when to use each
- Steps for preparing a classroom for contentious conversations
- Activities to practice discourse and disagreement
Addressing the problem of how to have politically and emotionally charged conversations in the classroom, this book guides 6-12 educators – particularly teachers of history, civics, ELA, and other social studies and humanities disciplines -- in facilitating discussions based on fact, intellectual reasoning, and mutual respect.
It’s time we stop talking about creating active and knowledgeable citizens and start the actual process of training our students to engage in civil and civic discourse. One reason we often push this process to the back burner in our lesson plan books is because we’re just not sure what that can look like. In Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities, Schmidt and Pinkney provide not just a powerful rationale for developing engaged citizens but the practical tools to make it happen. If you’re like me and are tired of randomly searching online for how to facilitate difficult but absolutely vital conversations, then Civil Discourse was written specifically for you. Schmidt and Pinkney provide the structure, strategies, and resources you’re looking for and that your students need. A perfectly timed book for every educator!
This is a must-have book for every educator’s personal library. Schmidt and Pinkney provide an invaluable framework and “how-to” guide for teachers who want to foster healthy civil discussions on controversial issues. The authors make this difficult pedagogical task accomplishable, and their practical guidance strengthens the ability of schools to succeed in their most important mission of developing young people into empathetic, informed, and active citizens.
Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities provides teachers with a step-by-step practical framework on how to engage students in civil discourse. The framework allows teachers to fully implement the civil discourse framework or make adjustments
to their current instructional practices. I really appreciate the discussion on the differences between debate, discussion, and dialogue to ensure that students and teachers learn the differences between the concepts and help students engage in meaningful conversations about American politics.
Schmidt and Pinkney’s book is a wonderful primer for educators who need a jumpstart or a refresher on discourse in civics education. They have gathered many practical and useful tips, guides, and resources for the classroom and personal edification for beginning and veteran educators alike. This book is a must-have for anyone teaching in the social studies classroom and training future social studies educators. As a classroom guide and when designing curriculum, Schmidt and Pinkney’s book is an invaluable tool for working with students to create strong and engaging discourse civics education.
How will students practice and master the skills of engaging in challenging discussions with people of diverse viewpoints if those conversations aren’t happening in classrooms? While the past few years have seen a rise in resources aimed at convincing teachers of this need, too few offer a road map to help make this happen. Civil Discourse offers the classroom teacher a step-by-step approach to fostering productive civic dialogue in their classroom. Each chapter identifies a list of essential teacher practices and action steps a teacher can take to make those practices their own. This book is a valuable resource for teachers and teacher-educators looking to bring meaningful discussion back into classrooms.