Leading a Good Discussion

Of course not all people like to perform in front of groups, but there are a few things to keep in mind while planning your discussion week that might make it more effective, smoother and even fun.

1) Start Preparing Early! Give yourself time to read and digest the assigned readings for that week, along with any supplementary and contextualizing materials you might want to add.

  • Read required readings very carefully, take notes.
  • Check out the supplementing links for that week on the website (further reading/films, links).
  • Make sure your understanding of the theorists' arguments is well-situated in time and space (i.e., when was he or she writing? where did they do fieldwork? what other theorists are they most indebted to? What historical situations might be influencing his/her stances?).
  • Sit down and ponder. This step is crucial, for out of it will come interesting and to the point discussion questions for the class. Make a time to meet with your discussion co-leader and brainstorm together. What do particular terms mean, anyway? How does their use of these terms compare with others we've read? How do we assess this argument? It's implications for the China-Tibet relationship? for us now? What are the writer's methods? What does an ethnographic case help us understand about China-Tibet?

2) Come up with six discussion questions for the class. To make this more than just a rote exercise, give some thought to how people read and respond to questions.

  • Start Basic! Many students will be reading this stuff for the first time. Devise one or two openers that encourage people to consider the basic contexts and structures of the arguments.
  • Stay Brief! On email people tend to tune out after a few sentences. Your questions should be no more than 3 lines long.
  • Be a Balanced Critic. Devise one or two questions that get people to the heart of the theorists' arguments and their implications. Good critique considers both the strong points (i.e., contributions to the field, strong evidence, amazing logic, excellent writing) and weaknesses (i.e., weak evidence, faulty logic, racist assumptions)
  • Be Provocative. Acting responsibly of course, devise one or two questions that might stir up debate. Try a devil's advocate position, or a thought experiment.

3) Send your discussion questions to the class via the class email list. Give people time to consider them and possible responses.

  • Send Your Questions on Time! Your questions should get to the class by Sunday night for Tuesday's class, and by Wednesday morning for Thursday's class.

4) Be Prepared for Class! Arrive on time. Usually, I begin the class period with announcements and contextualizing comments, then I turn the discussion leadership over to you.

  • Bring extra copies of your printed out discussion questions (not necessary to bring one for everyone).
  • Devise a short speil that you and your co-leader deliver together in which you tell us such things as your general impressions, how the process went, how and why you came up with the questions, important contexts for the material.
  • Optionally, construct a brief thought exercise to generate discussion. Divide into groups, ask the class to write responses to a question, show an image, etc.

5) Be an Attentive Facilitator. Good facilitators open the discussion to everyone and yet find ways to keep the discussion on track. You won't be completely on your own! Consider me a co-facilitator.

  • Bring the discussion back on topic if it drifts
  • Refer the class to specific questions on the list
  • Refer back to a comment someone said earlier
  • Address people by name