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At Randolph School 11th graders used Project Based Learning to connect with themselves and the culture around them. These projects were individually chosen and were deemed important to the student personally because of this they were excited to learn and develop their paper. This type of learning stays with the students long term and put them in new social settings that they may not have understood before.

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English is the perfect setting to engage in Cooperative Learning. Group work helps to develop Social Skills and ideas that will carry into speaking and writing in the English Language. Without speaking to one another students will not have the examples of proper grammar, structure, argument, and format that speaking and writing need. As students work together they learn how to formulate ideas and express those ideas using the English Language.
A lesson that involves Cooperative Learning looks something like this:
Students are reading The Declaration of Independence and are split into groups of five to discuss a few key elements of the text. They are specifically looking for the audience of the text, the authors intentions, and how the words chosen influence the text. The students are given this instruction and then turned loose to discuss amongst their group for 20 minutes. One group member is assigned to be the scribe and will take notes on what the group discussed. After the 20 minutes the class will come together and have a larger discussion cooperating to learn about word choice, audience and author's intention in The Declaration of Independence.

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Implementing Jigsaw in the Classroom

This is how Ms. Kirk uses the jigsaw method to teach her students about Barack Obama.

1. She breaks her class up into five home groups, with 5 students in each group.

2. Each student in a group is assigned one of the following topics: Obama's childhood, Obama's career, Obama's campaign and election, Obama's presidency from 2008-2012, Obama's presidency from 2012-2016.

3. She then gives each student articles, books, and worksheets on their specific topic.

4. Students form expert groups that include all students from the class who have been assigned the same period of Obama's life. For example, all students who were assigned Obama's childhood will be in one group.

5. They work in their new groups to research, write notes, and discuss their topic until they feel comfortable giving an overview of the main points.

6. The students go back to their original groups to share their piece of the puzzle.

7. Once each student takes a turn to explain their part, the whole group has learned the main points from all periods of Obama's life.

8. At this point, Ms. Kirk may have the groups write a report on Obama, do creative artwork that represents something they have learned, have a class discussion, or give a quiz on what they have covered.

These same steps can be used for any text that is being read or author's life that is being discussed. Connecting the authors life and putting the puzzle of who they are together creates the social connection between a text and the readers. No longer is the author just a name on a page but they are real. Each student is also given the opportunity to act as expert in this learning style and develops social skill as they present their information.

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Often in the American society we fear controversy. There is a valid possibility of offending someone or tarnishing your reputation with the class. Because of this often students choose to say nothing and teachers avoid controversial topics. This avoidance however is greatly hindering the students ability to engage in their community and create social bonds. They are also not able to learn as effectively about some things that they will need to know in life going forward. English is the perfect place for structured civil discourse. The key being the structure from the teacher setting up a safe and respectful platform for the discourse to take place. This EdNC article by
Kendall Hageman-Mays

October 28, 2019
explains how to civil discourse can be fostered in the classroom.

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Our nation's growing diversity is reflected in our school-age population. In 2014, for the first time ever, African American, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian children made up the majority of the approximate 50 million students in our nation's public schools. In addition to an increase in racial and ethnic diversity, schools face issues related to other types of student diversity including socioeconomic status, languages spoken, ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Teaching students with diverse backgrounds and needs creates many benefits and opportunities for students and educators. Research from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA found that racial and ethical diversity in the classroom enhances students' communication, critical thinking, and problem solving skills, while classrooms with students of different socioeconomic backgrounds produce higher test scores for all student groups. Diverse classrooms promote creativity as those with differing viewpoints are able to collaborate to problem solve.

Promoting student growth and reflection, students exposed to diverse classrooms are entering job markets with lessening concern for community or national boundaries.

Diversity vs. divisiveness

On the flipside, with an increase in diversity comes a growing societal divide. Simply put, diversity implies difference - different wants, different needs, different goals. The more diverse we become, the more likely these differences will manifest themselves in ways that put people at odds with each other.

Incidents such as the 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia protests highlight the challenges that can result when growing diversity of culture, background, and experience is met with vitriol and violence. The need for civil discourse skills has become especially urgent as increasingly heated political rhetoric exposes the degree to which increased diversity is finding Americans polarized on a many number of important issues, often times resulting in acts of violence.

Promoting greater understanding and respect

Schools and classroom teachers have a crucial role to play in combating this divisiveness through the facilitation of meaningful dialogue among their diverse learners. Teaching students the art of civil discourse (a conversation in which there is a mutual airing of views without judgement or repercussions) and effective communication and listening skills can help them develop cognitive competence that will put them in a good position not only in school but will be something they can carry with them throughout life. No longer should these lessons be relegated to civics or humanities courses. These lessons can, and should, be occurring in all classrooms.

Reflecting on his own experience, Devan Desai, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) class of 2019 shares: "Through a civil discourse format in a discussion for my Molecular Genetics Course, I learned to understand and respect opposing perspectives. This enabled me to deepen my understanding of course content and develop better communication skills to strengthen my own argument."

Rules of engagement: Model the behavior

Irregardless of the grade level or subject matter being taught, the basic rule for introducing civil discourse in a classroom is for one to model the behavior. Establishing one's classroom as an environment of unconditional acceptance where all views and opinions are to be treated with respect and dignity sets an attitude required to facilitate civil dialogue. As a classroom teacher this means (1) remaining calm when people say things you dislike, and (2) accepting when students reach different conclusions on a controversial issue than you might have reached.

"Three times I have raised my right hand and sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic," affirms Bob Gotwals, lieutenant commander (LCDR, USNR (Ret.)) and computational science and chemistry instructor at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. "This means all of the Constitution, particularly those amendments protecting free speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government. This is in spite of the fact that there are many times where I completely disagree with others' points of view."

Clearly defined expectations

Teachers need to clearly define and maintain classroom expectations and boundaries. It is imperative that students understand and adhere to the expectations in order to provide a safe and support environment for healthy dialogue.

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Perspective | Civil discourse in the classroom: Creating space for important conversations

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Our nation's growing diversity is reflected in our school-age population. In 2014, for the first time ever, African American, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian children made up the majority of the approximate 50 million students in our nation's public schools.

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Many pieces of literature examined in English are about others in their communities. These "others" undergo challenges. Reading about these challenges leave students asking what can be done. Service learning allows for passion and strong emotions provoked by literature an avenue to make change. The above video lays out the steps to finding a Service Learning Project and following through to promote change. Not only does this help the community but it is the prime learning opportunity for our students to learn about another human being and feel connected to a group.