As teachers, we are very aware of how important it is for our students to be able to collaborate successfully with others, and how communication is the key to doing this successfully. In my experience, students often have a great deal of difficulty working through the natural disagreements that arise when they are collaborating on projects and have different ideas of how things should be done. I try to help students understand that disagreeing is okay and can actually be productive, as long as they do it respectfully and work to come to agreement together.
I find that sometimes students need some strategies and language for how to make this work, such as using a calm and neutral tone of voice, and using non-personal statements like, “I disagree, and here is why. What do you think?” or, “I like THIS part of your idea - what do you think about combining it with this approach instead?”.
What are some ways you encourage productive disagreement in your classroom?
