Should a teacher allow a student to disagree during a "class discussion"?

Most teachers grade a students ability on their opinion and response on a subject during a "class discussion," where there is only one correct answer. Shouldn't a teacher encourage disagreement of topics to stimulate the students?

#Logic #Earth #Society #Opinions

Easy Math Editor

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Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

If there is only one answer, any student who disagrees is simply wrong. This in itself isn't bad, it fuels discussions.

It IS a bad thing if the disagreeing student fails to see the flaw in his reasoning after being presented with many arguments .

Ton de Moree - 7 years, 8 months ago

Some would argue the teacher should be using the Socratic method. Most teachers won't, though, because

1) they don't know much more than what the book and curriculum says they should be teaching, so don't know how to address questions or challenges that stray from that narrow area,

2) it doesn't work so well in larger classes, because there's just not enough time, although

3) most kids won't participate anyway, because they're too worried about their social status.

In other words, both teachers and students are, in general, probably too afraid to do what you propose, even if it'd be more efficient than what's done now.

Christopher Johnson - 7 years, 8 months ago

A teacher should start discussing controversial topic of his/her subject. He/she should encourage the students to think differently and discover new way of thinking. It'll grow interest of the students in that subject. Teacher should welcome disagreement too. But still now we can only think of this kind of class.

Ishika Ghosh - 7 years, 8 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$