How can argument build community?

 September 14, 2021

By Jody Braun

TWIG Contributor 

 The first Tuesday’s with TWIG started with a spectacular showing of new and familiar faces! It was great to see colleagues from around the valley, including teachers of kindergarten all the way up to seniors, representing a variety of subjects. It was an energizing hour of thinking deeply about our profession and the teaching of writers!  

The write into the day prompt requiring us to reflect on what makes a group of people a community was a great entry point to rich discussion and connections to our essential inquiry question of the day: “How can argument build community?”. Some of the general conclusions were that communities have a common goal to work toward together, whether it be creating something tangible or accomplishing a task; it has a set of principles and values shared by members; there’s a deep respect and trust creating a safe-place to be vulnerable.  

The extension of the conversation was centered on how teachers can foster a culture of argument. A set of guiding questions including: How can we foster the conditions in our classrooms for students to respectfully and productively engage in conversation? How do we move from conversation to a culture of argument? In the classroom? Beyond? prompted many insightful comments from several participants. Highlights included building relationships with and among students through designed lessons and activities promoting sharing the personal and personalities. Students love sharing about themselves and their social nature makes it worthwhile to engage in these easy community building activities.  

 

The conversation directly linked to the showcased strategy of making anchor charts for student-generated classroom norms. While it may seem time consuming and a bit scary to do, it can be a powerful tool for building buy-in and fostering agency within students. Though often overlooked or just an expected skill and manner, productive conversations require norms and constant practice of them. Those who shared their experiences using this strategy with their students remarked how such a seemingly simple move can provide a powerful foundation for creating a culture of deep learning and argument.