Fostering Civil Discourse: Difficult Classroom Conversations in a Diverse Democracy

About This Guide

Research shows that discussing contemporary issues in the classroom increases students’ engagement, improves their communication and critical thinking skills, and increases their participation in civic life as adults. Yet classroom conversations that touch on emotional topics or spark controversy between students can be difficult to navigate.

This guide is designed to help teachers hold meaningful and productive conversations with their students about public policies, controversial issues, and current events. It offers tools and teaching strategies that can make fostering civil discourse in the classroom feel less overwhelming and challenging, including:

• Reflection questions to help teachers examine how their identities affect the way they facilitate reflective conversations with their students
• Classroom routines and ideas for building and maintaining a classroom community where students can engage in safe and brave conversations 
• Guidance on planning and facilitating class discussions, including selecting topics that will allow students to engage, establishing background information, and choosing classroom discussion strategies that meet learning goals
• Strategies for approaching unplanned moments, such as introducing a breaking news event to a class, addressing misinformation or inaccurate information, and repairing classroom community after a breach of class norms during a discussion 

The Meaning of Civil Discourse

“Civil discourse” is a framework that allows us to show up with our mind, heart, and conscience and to be in dialogue and extend our understanding in connection with others. Political scientist Archon Fung writes:  

It’s important to distinguish between two senses of civility. The first is a superficial kind of civility—being nice, refraining from insults or ad-hominem kinds of argument. The second is a deeper, more important (and older, for what that’s worth) sense of civility that is about behaving in ways that are necessary for cooperative projects such as schools and democratic societies to work well. This deeper sense of civility comes from the Latin civilitas—relating to citizens. ¹ Civility in this sense is behavior that is important for good citizenship. ²

In order to ask students to listen and engage civilly, we have to work toward classrooms that are rooted in equity and have boundaries around speech that affirm the humanity of all while also leaving space for diverse perspectives. The term “civility” can be used to silence voices that challenge the status quo, but “civil discourse,” as we use it in this guide, does not mean prioritizing politeness or comfort over getting to the heart of an issue. 

• 1Although the term “citizen” is often used to denote legal status, it can also have a broader meaning—a member of the community, a positive contributor to society and civic life—as in the phrase “a citizen of the world.” That more expansive definition of citizenship in a country, available to all people regardless of documentation, is what Facing History means when we use the word “citizen.”
• 2Nora Delaney, “For the Sake of Argument,” Harvard Kennedy School Magazine (Spring 2019).