By Dr. Jennifer Caseldine-Bracht

Students can develop skills for philosophical essay writing through seminar discussions that emphasize active listening and reasoned discourse. Both deliberative democracy and philosophy encourage engaged thinking by requiring students to consider opposing perspectives and develop their own arguments. This process cultivates intellectual humility and improves critical thinking skills, both of which are important skills for students. 

Because The WACademic covers writing across the curriculum, you may expect this essay to start out with a focus on writing. Please be patient. As a teacher of philosophy, I feel obliged to warn you that we philosophers rarely follow straight paths. Expect a few detours on our way to the topic of writing through a philosophical lens.

Last year, I attended a deliberative democracy workshop, and I asked myself how I could potentially incorporate principles of deliberative democracy into my classroom. I realized philosophical reasoning and deliberative democracy share some of the same principles, and I was excited to explore how this approach could allow students to develop the skills and dispositions vital to a functioning democracy. A colleague reminded me that deliberative democracy and students’ career success are supported by the same set of professional soft skills. Classroom opportunities for philosophical reasoning and deliberative democracy are also opportunities for students to develop communication and presentation skills, perspective-taking and critical thinking skills: all important in their personal and professional lives. 

Application of deliberative democracy principles in the classroom can be direct, limited, and effective. For example, I asked students whether or not they wanted to participate in Zoom breakout sessions. Since students are encouraged but not required to attend seminars, I wanted their support before I proceeded with the plan. This approach provided a good opportunity to ask students how they want to structure the seminar, within the parameters of the seminar objectives.

In one ethics class, only a small number of students attended the seminar. They chose not to participate in breakout sessions. I still incorporated principles of deliberative democracy in the seminar sessions by exploring how some of the topics related to their own lives and perspectives. The conversation grew organically based on the students’ thoughts about the assigned topic. We could deviate from the planned curriculum while still meeting unit objectives, and students seemed genuinely interested in the subject. They were engaged in the conversation. 

In another ethics class, many more students attended and participated in the seminar conversations. The result was a number of lively side discussions on a variety of topics. These students opted enthusiastically for Zoom breakout sessions.

According to Peter Levine (2022), in deliberative democracies, citizens participate meaningfully in decisions that affect them rather than simply receiving instructions from authorities. When students choose how to organize the seminar and have a bit of a decision-making role in determining what to include in the seminar, then they exercise genuine agency over their educational experience.

For the first Zoom break-out session, the topics were justice, punishment, and responsibility. I told students I could provide questions for that week’s breakout session.

During one seminar, we discussed theories of justice. We explored questions about retributive vs restorative theories of justice, as well as whether mercy is compatible with justice.

 After we discussed these topics, I included two more questions:

• What is an unanswered question you still have about this topic?
• What is something you learned from the breakout discussion?

One of the principles of deliberative democracy is that all stakeholders should have meaningful opportunities to participate and be heard. I developed these questions with this goal in mind. Students answered the questions, but we did not have enough time to really discuss them. I asked students how much time they thought we ought to allow for the break-out sessions and they asked for a three-minute increase in the time allotted to their private discussions. That worked for the class. Students also asked me to post the questions a few days early so they could have time to reflect on their answers before the seminar. I started posting questions in the class announcements and then added additional reading material to the announcements. I encouraged students to submit their own questions, too. The conversations have been intense and productive.

I learned firsthand how engaged students are when they have a part in shaping their own seminars.

The skills students learn in seminar discussions help them develop arguments for their philosophical essay assignments. Both deliberative democracy and philosophy prioritize reasoned discourse. Philosophical essay writing involves exploring issues from different perspectives and providing reasons to support claims. At their core, both deliberative democracy and philosophical writing promote engaged thinking. Philosophical writing, even when a student is sitting at a computer by themselves, often engages in implicit conversations with folks that hold different perspectives. For instance, students are often asked to think about the best argument for an opposing position, anticipate objections to their own position, and provide an analysis of other ideas. They are encouraged to put their own ideas under a lens of logical scrutiny. This scrutiny can lead to intellectual humility. While this process highlights what students know, it also demonstrates what they don’t know. This may be an important skill for their futures. 

Kathleen Fitzpatrick writes, “This is generous thinking: listening to one another, recognizing that we have as much to learn as we do to teach…” (2019, p. 235). Generous thinking involves collaboration, inclusivity, and human connection. Actively listening to one another is one way to model generous thinking. When we have created a generous space in the university, then students may choose to bring more of themselves into their writing.

Cheers to The WACademic team for creating this space for good conversations and generous thinking, which often lead in turn to more original and thoughtful student essays.

References

Fitzpatrick, K. (2019). Generous thinking: A radical approach to saving the university. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Levine, P. (2022, January 26). Deliberative democracy. Civic Theory and Practice. https://sites.tufts.edu/civicstudies/2022/01/26/deliberative-democracy/