All students speak their mind. Sitting around a familiar Harkness table, the class dragged one point on for an entire period, yet, the resemblance between the first and last comments is strikingly similar. For a school with such a strong political presence as St. Paul Academy and Summit School, one would think that a class discussion should be filled with conflicting thoughts and strong personal opinions. So why is it that Harkness discussions feel like an echo chamber of impersonal reciprocated thoughts? Students are afraid to voice their opposing opinions.

The SPA community must establish a feeling of confidence when including a personal opinion into classroom debates. Another recurring presence in SPA is the idea that people do not want to reveal their potentially conflicting opinions, which only makes being different more formidable. This attitude produces conformity. SPA students need to take a leap into risk without the feeling that they will be judged due to an opposing opinion or point. Similarly, the SPA community needs to more readily welcome opinions that differ from their own in order to diversify discussions.

It is imperative that the rest of the SPA population, the group who disagree with that one student, remains open minded. Remaining confident in your point is certainly a critical step of maintaining a powerful discussion, but being able to let others share their opinions without judgement and receiving their message is just as crucial.

The approach to this topic must remain confident but not cynical. Using “you” statements like: “You are wrong,” is not the correct way to keep a discussion understanding. They also won’t allow for a more in-depth argument. Using“I” or “we” statements like: “But what if we thought about it this way?” or “I feel strongly that,” allow for a more diverse conversation. These statements take the debate into new directions instead of following one point the entire class. They allow for minds to be changed and opinions to be differed. Just saying something along the lines of: “Your opinion is incorrect and this is why mine is right” won’t change the mind of any student. This statement will only create an unchanging division between two students. A more forgiving approach should be taken, which relates to remaining open minded.

Teachers, even though they don’t play a huge role in the actual debate of the discussion, must remain a completely unbiased orchestrator. Students need to be able to convey their point without feeling like their teacher will judge their point due to their own beliefs. This is a two sided issue, though. Participators in these discussions must stay true to their own point. Modifying a point to accommodate for what one believes a teacher wants to hear is a betrayal to personal belief. A nuanced discussion will always be stronger than one with perpetual agreement. Not everyone in the SPA community has the same opinions, and that should be celebrated. Even if the difference is between a teacher and a student.

Sharing your opinion on a sensitive topic can definitely be scary. This is especially true in history classes when talking about real life events that people have strong opinions on. But there should be no fright in sharing your opinion. The purpose of class discussions is to fully understand material and delve deeper into the topics that students are learning. This is something students often forget. Nothing can be learned if everything is identical. With spring break approaching, there is an opportunity for students to be brave during a discussions and take risks that they can reflect on over the break itself . A student should never need to apologize before making a point, and that same student should not be judged if they are willing to share an opinion. Remember that the point of a Harkness Discussion is not for everyone to agree, it is to develop a deeper understanding of the topic at hand.