As I explore strategies to promote participation in the classroom, my observations have led me to some new and unexpected outcomes. I have recently realized how important the topic or subject matter of discussion is when evaluating class participation. Some topics, such as “What was your favourite part of our field trip?” are much more approachable and, in a way, less personal. All students come into the discussion on equal footing, having just experienced the same event. My research, prior to this point, did not explore the relationship that classroom participation has to the topic of discussion. When topics are more personal, such as “Who is a wise person in your life?”, talking circles are a great classroom discussion platform to use. All students are given equal opportunity to share, but the choice to ‘pass’ – or not participate – is entirely theirs and also entirely respected. Lately however, I have noticed that more personal topics, such as the one above, result in much less participation.
While I have noticed the benefits of talking circles, a potential barrier that is starting to form. Talking circles have two rules…
- Only the person holding the rock can talk.
- When the rock comes to you, it is entirely acceptable to pass if you do not wish to participate.
I am starting to see that the second rule could easily become a crutch for students. Students can run the risk of falling into an “it’s okay that I don’t so I never will” pattern. So what is a teacher to do then? It is extremely important to maintain the integrity of the talking circle by not breaking the rules. When this barrier begins to build, alternate strategies need to be in place. One potential way to help students participate is to let them know ahead of time. Simply forewarning the student earlier in the day creates opportunity to prepare and plan. However, letting student know beforehand could also potentially increase anxiety as well. The student could be spending the rest of the day anxious and dreading the moment when it becomes their turn to hold the rock.
My experience with talking circles in the classroom has already led me to a place I did not expect. As much as I feel they promote participation and break down some barriers, for some students they create new ones. When these barriers start to form, it is up to the teacher to find ways to adapt and modify the teaching tool to help all students overcome these unforeseen obstacles. I plan to continue holding talking circles in my classroom, but now have to find further ways to equitably support all student participation.
Hi Darrien, I thought I’d commented already on this post (but perhaps didn’t press send since I see nothing here! sorry!)
I was struck when I initially read it by the insight you share about the value of the talking circle and the potential risks. It is great to see you developing flexibility and an understanding of the need for teachers to be constantly evaluating and tweaking approaches. I do hope you don’t ‘give up’ on the talking circle as it clearly is something that supports many of your learners but, instead, use it to help students ‘open up’ about personal topics and learn from each other. Over time, you may find that participation increases again. I’ve seen it used very effectively for class meetings about issues. In these cases, we don’t expect or need each child to speak aloud. Instead, we’re looking for opportunities to give students voice who feel the need or desire to talk and allow all students to learn from and feel like their opinions are valued! Using a talking circle in conjunction with a ‘question box’ might be interesting!