Early in my teaching career, as a graduate student teaching intro courses, I spent a lot of time sifting through material to bring into my classes. From such content, thoughtful questions arose, which I meticulously worked my way through during my lesson planning. Once in the classroom, I often expected students to be just as prepared as I was to answer the questions. Many times, since I had time to think through such questions, I found myself anticipating a certain response.
But when I posed such inquiries, I was met with a silence so strong you could hear a pin drop. Conversation wouldn’t always fall flat. Sometimes it was robust and lively, but rarely was it consistent. It was only after several freezing moments that I finally realized maybe I was asking the wrong questions, jumping too far into the conclusions, or simply not taking the time to allow students to just ponder the possibilities.
Looking back, I think it may have been a combination of the three. I have since leaped at any and every opportunity to refine my teaching and avoid feeling like the deer in the headlights. This is how I found myself in the Deliberative Pedagogy Collaborative striving to intentionally and consistently bring to my classes engagement and thoughtful conversation that asked students to wrestle with a range of outlooks in challenging ways.
I jumped into implementing deliberation in my ENV189: Environmental Crisis in its Cultural Context class by inviting students to read two chapters from Preventing Polarization: “Consume Information Mindfully” (Ch 4) and “Embrace Complexity” (Ch 6) (Blanchet & Deters 2023). Similar to my own feelings about deliberation, I felt like my students got it. Of course, we will engage with a range of topics! Of course, we will consider different viewpoints! Of course, we will wrestle with the material! All of this is easier said than done.
A few weeks later after emphasizing the importance of information literacy and complexity, I led my students through the deliberative activity of a Mock Town Hall in which they were asked to decide how to deal with water contamination from lead cables in their imaginary town. Prior to the activity, students listened to The Journal’s America is Wrapped in Toxic Lead Cables (The Wall Street Journal’s podcast, July 13, 2023), which spotlighted the real situation that the Mock Town Hall was modeled after. The episode brought in a range of voices, which allowed for a range of different perspectives.
Some students played the role of decision makers, while others took on the roles of industry executives, company workers, parents, and scientists. Students didn’t struggle with the task before them, but there was an exciting sense of challenge as I could see the wheels inside their minds turning. Many of them took on their roles with gusto. Unlike conversations of the past, which tended to simplify environmental issues, students were faced with the task of considering a range of different viewpoints and deciding what actions the town could take to solve this issue. This process went extremely well.
Later in the semester, students (in groups of 3-4) were asked to create their own deliberative activities pertaining to a range of other environmental issues in class, including greenwashing, consumption, climate migration, and climate gentrification. I was very impressed with what they came up with. Activities included debates and role playing (similar to the Mock Town Hall). Like for all new activities, some were unsure (myself included!) and some of the activities missed their mark; however, the groups that excelled cultivated strong deliberative questions that pushed the class conversation into a deeper dialogue. These groups embraced the process of conversation, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Going forward, I will continue to use Mock Town Halls as introductions to deliberation in action. I hope to pair the readings about deliberation with the deliberative learning activity, so that all students can better grasp the reason for such activities. Pairing these back-to-back may better emphasize the importance of information literacy and complexity and how the two can work in conjunction in everyday conversations, whether engaging in collective decision making event at a town hall or encountering differing viewpoints at a family dinner. Practices like these, and more broadly speaking the DeeP Collaborative, reinvigorate my teaching and challenge me to further cultivate intentional spaces of deliberation in my classroom. Long gone are the days of feeling like a deer in the headlights. I am looking forward to continuing these practices and refining my skills next semester.
