What Do Students Want in History and Civics Classroom Discussions?

            Running a good classroom discussion is “challenging work,” say Andrew Schiera (University of Colorado/Boulder) and Andrew del Calvo (Rutgers University) in this article in Social Education, especially on controversial topics. They share suggestions from a diverse group of high-school students on how social studies teachers can make discussions lively, engaging, and safe: 

• A big question – The focus of discussion needs to be open-ended, students said, not pointed toward a single correct answer or a binary agree/disagree choice. Students liked being asked to formulate an initial opinion and then modify it in light of evidence and contrary opinions. In short, say Schiera and del Calvo, students appreciated “an authentic, shared problem space so that they could inquire deeply, individually, and collectively.”
• Facilitation – Students wanted teachers to provoke discussion with questions and follow-up comments that sparked deeper thinking. They also appreciated teachers clarifying when things got confusing and refocusing when students were straying from the topic or “going back and forth on the same stuff.”
• Multiple perspectives – Students said they wanted to hear all sides of historical and civics debates, perhaps engaging in small-group discussions to elicit and understand different points of view. But students cautioned against “both-sides-ism” and hoped that clear moral choices could emerge from discussions.
• Participation – Students had seen too many discussions involving “mostly just like three people,” and asked teachers to ensure broad and equitable participation, including: having students sit in a circle; establishing and monitoring air-time norms; inviting new voices; cold-calling; using thumb polls; and assigning participation grades. At the same time, students recognized that there were times when an intense dialogue should be allowed to continue, not cutting it off and letting others take the discussion off track. 
• The teacher’s role – Students suggested that teachers go beyond mere facilitation, encouraging them to chime in as co-inquirers – without dominating the discussion or conveying that their opinion was correct. Students were aware that a teacher being too opinionated or seeming to push a political agenda could spark parental outrage. 
• Psychological safety – Students mentioned several ways to ensure that discussions felt emotionally comfortable while being intellectually open: setting norms about respectful engagement; thoughtfully introducing difficult topics; reassuring students about fear of saying something “wrong;” allowing students time to think; not trying to orchestrate a single conclusion; not interrupting and shutting students down; and using small-group turn-and-talk when appropriate.
• Connecting past, present, and lived experience – Students appreciated delving into primary-source material but wanted historical events to be connected to the present day and their own lived experience. “Overall,” say Schiera and del Calvo, “students wanted discussions that connected historical inquiry to contemporary life while providing enough structure to help them navigate those connections in meaningful ways.” 

“‘Setting the Conversation on Fire’: What Youth Want from Social Studies Conversations” by Andrew Schiera and Andrew del Calvo in Social Education, September 2026 (Vol. 90, #4, pp. 216-220); the authors are at AJ.Schiera@colorado.edu and andrew.delcalvo@gse.rutgers.edu.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1151 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.