14 DAY TRIAL // Experts say that one of the most fundamental traits that children should leave school with is argumentative reasoning. This ability allows them to get into arguments in a controlled manner, where they can easily convey the message they want without getting side-tracked.
Educators came a long time ago to the conclusion that it may not necessarily be a good thing to try and quench some kids' inclination to argue. Rather, they said, teachers and parents alike should be thankful that the children have learned a skill.
In other words, they should try and hone it, rather that sweep it under the rug. Now, experts at the Columbia University Teachers College have developed a new curriculum for this very purpose.
Researchers Deanna Kuhn and Amanda Crowell say that the approach is capable of fostering kids' development in argumentative reasoning. It also contains the necessary mechanisms to empirically test the results, PsychCentral reports.
The most important thing the new curriculum brings is the idea that argument skills can best be attained not by writing, but by actual dialog. Writing a paper on an issue is an effort students make to please their teachers, and does not necessarily reflect their views on the matter at hand.
“That’s [the] only function,” Kuhn explains. But the inclination is there regardless. “Children engage in conversation from very early on. It has a point in real life,” the expert foes on to say.
Over the past three years, the two researchers worked with two classes (48 kids) of test subjects at an undisclosed middle school, where they staged their intervention. A group of 23 children was used as control, the two explains.
Using issues such as abortion and gun control as starting points, the researchers then divided children of opposite beliefs into groups, and asked them to prepare for a debate. Reasons and arguments were demanded of the participants for all points they were arguing for.
By comparison, the second group held class discussions moderated by a teacher, and had to write 14 essays on the topics, as opposed to the test group's 4. The conclusions of the research came as a surprise to the experts as well.
The experimental group fared a lot better at every test point. Children in it were capable of producing higher forms of arguments than those in the control group, and could also ask a lot more substantial questions, relevant to the topic being discussed.
Kuhn explains that this approach to teaching instilled a key citizenship value in the children, and namely that it pays off to have an informed argument, rather than one based on hearsay, erroneous beliefs and suppositions.