Implementing a Harkness Discussion
- Step 1: Examine a Stimulus If students are doing all the talking, what’s the teacher supposed to do? Our role as educators is to give students a focus for their discussion. ...
- Step 2: Generate Questions Next, I have students generate questions on our classroom Padlet. ...
- Step 3: Sit in a Circle ...
- Step 4: Discuss the Questions ...
- Step 5: Discuss the Interactions ...
How do you teach Harkness in 3 simple steps?
Harkness Discussions in 3 Simple Steps 1 Step 2 1: Set up the Environment. 3 Step 4 2: Talk to the Students about Harkness. 5 Step 6 3: Choose an observer and start. You’re ready! ... Then let someone begin and see what happens. ... Then, before... More ...
What is the Harkness discussion?
The Harkness Discussion (also called the Harkness Method or Harkness Table) originated at Phillips Exeter Academy, ranked as the top boarding school in the United States by Business Insider Magazine. That same publication also followed up with an article entitled “Why Classes at Phillips Exeter are Different Than at Any Other Private School”.
How does Dominion teach the Harkness method?
Dominion begins training students for the Harkness Method as early as kindergarten by teaching students to speak in front of others. By fourth grade, teachers offer students questions for discussion, and by the end of middle school, students often come to class having generated their own questions after annotating texts.
How often do you do Harkness discussions?
I like to do Harkness discussions once or twice a week, so that my students have a chance to work on expressing their opinions and learning to listen but so that discussion skills don’t dominate our whole curriculum. In my experience, a focus that deep on discussion is awfully hard on my students who are naturally quieter.
Who invented the Harkness method?
Exeter’s Harkness method, established in 1930 with a gift from Edward Harkness, a man who believed learning should be a democratic affair, is a simple concept: Twelve students and one teacher sit around an oval table and discuss the subject at hand.
Is Harkness a pedagogy?
At Exeter, Harkness is not a pedagogy. It’s a way of life. It begins in the classroom and extends beyond it, to field, stage and common room. It’s about collaboration and respect, where every voice carries equal weight, even when you don’t agree.
Is Harkness part of Exeter?
It's who we are. Harkness exists in every part of life at Exeter, not just academics. The confidence and connections you make at the table — the support you and your peers provide to each other — carry through into social, athletic, artistic and extracurricular pursuits. See All.
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Where did the Harkness Discussion originate?
The Harkness Discussion (also called the Harkness Method or Harkness Table) originated at Phillips Exeter Academy, ranked as the top boarding school in the United States by Business Insider Magazine.
Can you recreate a harness discussion?
Nevertheless, I could still recreate a Harkness Discussion using smaller groups as shown in the image below. I would usually direct my students to form groups of 4 or 8, as anything smaller than a group of 4 would often produce less dynamic conversations.
