Discussion in a Democratic Society

Reading this article on Democracy really opened up my eyes to issues that teachers and students face within schools. I particularly enjoyed the part that talks about the differences between conversation, dialogue, and discussion. If you would have asked me before what the difference was between the three, I probably would have said nothing. But reading in depth what these philosophers say the difference is was really interesting to me. I would have never thought that dialogue was considered to be more about inquiries, problems, and increasing understanding, and conversation was more informal and les-structured. I would have thought they were almost identical concepts. But now being able to distinguish between the two gives more insight on when to use one versus the other in my future classroom. And then there is "discussion" which is said to be more serious because it "requires the participants to be mutually responsive." I do think this description of the concept discussion is accurate in comparison to "conversation" and "dialogue". I do recognize discussions to be more serious and equally participated by both parties, but the differences between dialogue and conversation are still interesting to me. I know now that I will definitely separate the three and use them differently in the classroom, depending on what I think is appropriate for the situation. I really agree with the statement that was made about discussion being valuable for revealing the diversity of opinion that lies underneath any complex issue. With any controversial situation, especially in schools, it is important to explore all possible ideas, thoughts, and situations before making a decision. Also, one person making all the decisions is not right either, it needs to be a collective process with the whole community. This insures the right decision is being made, and is approved and supported by the majority of people involved. Overall this was an eye-opening and intriguing article to read! Thank you.