Q: What is the importance of having classroom discussions about ethics and current events?
A: “It’s not just simply the teacher telling them what the right answer is and then them somehow memorizing and regurgitating that,” says Gregg Good, head of school at Montessori High School. “They’re really developing their own meaning. When you watch a student engaged in a discussion like that, there’s something educators refer to as physical thinking. I can typically observe a student analyzing and evaluating and creating, as opposed to simply knowing or understanding or remembering something. In order to engage in a discussion like that, they must be analysts. They must be evaluating, they must be creating and perhaps, most importantly, they must be listening effectively.”
