The Concept of Discussion Teaching

The Concept of Discussion Teaching
Discussion teaching is an important concept in teaching and, assists students to consider information and ideas in new ways. It is based on the belief that a new idea is constructed by learners through an active process of mental development. Discussion teaching enhances a mutual interaction between a student and an instructor, and interaction between students. Hence, enables students to develop listening skills, to reflect upon and be able to respond to ideas imparted to them by others.
In discussion teaching is an important strategy necessary for interpersonal communication because it enables individuals to share information and become more intimate with each other through strengthening their interpersonal relationships. It is the act of sharing information with others that they would not normally know or able to discover. It involves risks and vulnerability on the part of the information charged with sharing the information. Self disclosure as a concept has many functions since it is a way of obtaining information from other people. This happens by predicting the thoughts and actions of others. It is a way of learning how another person thinks and feels. If a person is engaged in self disclosure, other people may be able to disclose their personal information (Nouwen 85).
The importance of discussion teaching is that it deepens the trust in relationships with others and makes people to understand each other even more. In such a discussion or dialogue, people often feel better in the relationship with others and accepts what they are told. Self disclosure is important in teaching since it enables the teacher to look at teaching through the prism of reciprocity that can allow the discernment of certain components of a process that can be named, described, studied, and communicated. However, there are certain risks associated with self disclosure. For instance a person will not respond favorably to the information. In addition, it is not a guarantee that self disclosure always leads to favorable impressions. It may make people to gain power over others in the relationships because the information is belongs to them. This is a form or risk of self disclosure since its overemphasis may damage the mutual relationships (Nouwen 89).
In discussion with students, teachers need to be open to increase a student’s participation in learning. They are made to understand that, there is an ever changing flow of activities that resists an abstract analysis but provides a disciplined observation and application of some specific skills. Thus, the work of a teacher is to create a conducive learning environment, to provide a teaching contract and to respond to student’s questions, as well as, contribution to promote learning environment in which students can impart knowledge to one another.
The other component of an effective discussion is to make a classroom be a good learning space (Christensen 622). In a...