We live in an argumentative age. From online bots to wannabe American presidents, it feels like we are awash with arguments, many of which are well worth avoiding. But when it comes to classrooms, we may be missing out on valuable learning if we dodge disagreements.
Side-stepping arguments seems like the most sensible option for the classroom, as we seek to maintain a calm atmosphere. And yet new research indicates that pursuing targeted disagreements can improve learning.
A new study by Antonia Langenhoff and colleagues explores how young children can learn to disagree productively. They show that carefully crafted disagreements can make young children better learners by reducing their overconfidence and getting them to think more carefully.
Positive arguments in the classroom
In one experiment, children aged between 4 and 6 were disagreed with by an expert adult, and spent longer searching for information compared with the children who were agreed with. The first group remained confident in their views and beliefs but worked harder to revisit what they knew.
It is clear that learning to disagree and argue offers myriad benefits for classroom learning. We know that teenagers who are exposed to disagreement in debate are motivated to produce higher quality arguments, as well as to provide better evidence. Disagreement can foster motivation and interest, and puncture overconfidence, if we can get it right.
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Of course, it takes well-crafted teaching to foster constructive disagreement, which is far more complex than simply triggering lots of arguments. So how can teachers carefully craft constructive disagreements that enhance learning?
Here are three approaches that can embed constructive disagreement to aid learning:
Devil’s advocate
Strengthen and normalise being exposed to alternative viewpoints by asking a student to play the role of devil’s advocate, challenging majority opinions and arguments.
Rank the claim
Take a disagreement and present a range of opinions and arguments. Students must rank the opinions based on the source’s level of expertise, reliability and/or trustworthiness.
Fishbowl debate
One group forms a circle and begins to debate, while the rest of the class observes from the outside. At selected points, the teacher asks the fishbowl observers to comment on the quality of the debate or pose their views on the strength of evidence and so on.
We know that students can struggle to see all sides of an argument, but this natural inclination to argue one side ultimately ends up compromising learning. Whether you are writing about issues like divorce in religious education or arguing about the causes of the First World War, balanced arguments - founded on productive disagreement - offer learners the tools for consistent academic success.
Perhaps some carefully planned disagreements and arguments in the classroom could also have a positive spillover far beyond the school gates. Maybe we would better prepare our students for the real world, with more skills at handling the disagreements of the world, from the boardroom to the courtroom.
Alex Quigley is the author of Why Learning Fails (And What To Do About It)
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