While reading the first chapter of “Discussion
in a Democratic Society”, through the beginning pages I couldn’t help attempting
to decipher what it is about discussion that the author believes ties it so
closely to democracy rather than other forms of government. In a democratic
society the majority rules. Most often when people within a democratic
government engage in discussion it is with the purpose of persuasion.
Politicians rarely enter a debate ready to acknowledge their errors, learn from
their opponents, or come to a better solution. Thus, we scarcely find it is the
case that in government people feel it is their “responsibility to encourage
even the most reluctant speakers to participate” (pg 3)… At some point I
realized that the author is referring to the fact that in a democracy all
people have a voice. It wasn’t the author’s fault. Through years of living in a
democratic society I had somehow forgotten this crucial aspect. In addition, I had
failed to witness the described methods of discussion at the highest level of government.
In my head, this blog post began
turning into a rant regarding the abuse of our democratic system. I thought
about it some more; I decided the issue was that others had also forgotten of
the crucial role that the individual plays in a democracy along with these very
simple rules of civil discussion.
Thus, I believe it is our duty to
show our students that their voice matters and they can make a difference. In
addition, in order to avoid becoming subjects of people who gain strength
through ignorance, we have to show students that they are (as Socrates said)
only wise if they realize they are not. We can set up discussions and lessons
in a way that forces students to change their opinion, find out the teacher is
wrong, or consider the other side. Further, we have to promote the idea that as
iron sharpens iron so can one idea be enhanced through discussion with the
opposition.
Some related
videos:
Chomsky on
teaching:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WDMKOU-OI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WDMKOU-OI
Adichie –
Danger of a Single Story (TED Talk)
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