Learning Through Harkness  

What Are Students Saying? 

 

Student #1

 

1.How have discussion-based classes and activities (literature circles and full class circle discussions) helped you grow as a learner?

 

These discussions have helped strengthen my opinion and become more open minded about other peoples ideas. The main upside to how we sit in a circle and talk about a topic is that we can make the conversation more personalized because you can make eye contact with everyone in the circle. Since this circle becomes more of a conversation people openly share their ideas and just from listening to someone else you could get a whole different perspective on the same topic. In this type of a discussion you are learning constantly because there is always someone stating their opinion on the subject and you can build on what they say until you have a great conversation going on with the class. 

 

 

2. What discussion skills do you still need to work on?

 

The skill that in these circle discussions I most need to work on would be instead of just making my own point I should build on other people’s ideas. The reason why this is a skill I should improve is because that is how as a class we can come to a conclusion on a topic and not just skip over it because someone has changed the topic.

 

Student #2

 

1. How have discussion-based classes and activities (literature circles and full class circle discussions) helped you grow as a learner?

 

The Harkness method has helped me grow as a learner and has helped me to become an open-minded person. When reading books like Macbeth or Oliver Twist I found a lot of “big ideas” and “deeper meanings”. For example in Macbeth blood is a symbol of guilt. By myself I found reasons why it was a symbol of guilt but I only felt like my reasons where correct. If I found a symbol but I couldn’t find a reason for it being a symbol I wouldn’t try to listen to someone else’s idea. Being in the circle made me realize that I could take ideas from different people and understand symbols that I didn’t understand. They circle made it easier to understand things like symbols because together the circle felt like a free place to express different ideas. Being in a safe and accepting environment made it easier to listen to people’s ideas and since I could listen to many ideas I became more accepting of new ideas. The Harkness circle helped me learn that if I don’t have an answer I can always listen to my peer’s ideas.

 

 

2. What discussion skills do you still need to work on?

 

The discussion skill I need to work on is etiquette. I am polite when letting people speak their ideas when I want to speak which is a lot but when I let a person speak before me it discourages me. This discourages me to try to speak at all during the whole Harkness circle discussion. This makes people think that I don’t have ideas; the only thing is I feel like my ideas are not important enough for me to talk. I would like to stop being to polite and sometimes take charge and put my ideas out to my peers.

 

Student #3

 

1. How have discussion-based classes and activities (literature circles and full class circle discussions) helped you grow as a learner?

 

Discussion-based classes and activities have helped me grow as a learner because it lets the entire class share their opinions. Firstly, when we do literature circles for our books, we all share our opinions and questions for things that we noticed in the section. Not everyone focuses on the same things, so everyone learns new things about the section and we learn good ideas. Doing this gives us new ways to analyze the book and we can think about different opinions to something. Second, when we do full class circle discussions I learn to put myself in others’ shoes.  When we were doing a circle discussion on the Germans’ reaction to the Treaty of Versailles, we had to think about how the Germans would react. I had to think about how different Germans would think of the treaty and how they would feel. In conclusion, discussion-based classes and activities have helped me grow as a learner because we can share all of our opinions and questions and we learn to put ourselves in others’ shoes.

 

2. What discussion skills do you still need to work on?

 

Some discussion skills that I still need to work on are getting my ideas out in full class discussions and having my ideas fully formed in my head before I say them. Firstly, a skill that I need to work on is getting my ideas out in full class discussions. Sometimes I can’t get my ideas out and I can’t break through the conversation to show my opinions. Next year, I have to work on saying my ideas and making sure I am heard. Second, a skill that I need to work on is having my ideas fully formed in my head before I say them. In some discussions I will have an idea and I will try to say it, but I won’t have it formed in my head, so when I say it it’s not exactly what I want to say. Next year, I need to wait to speak so I will know what I am going to say and not speak when my idea is partially formed.