Reasoning forms an integral part of discussion.

Identifying and following up on assertions means you can help learners get into the habit of giving reasons, evidence and examples to support what they think.

It also sends the message that opinions based on sound reasoning, or which have evidence to support them, tend to be more persuasive and more powerful than those that have neither.

Here’s an example:

• Learner A: I like ice-cream.
• Learner B: I like ice-cream because it tastes nice and comes in different colours and flavours.
• Learner C: I like ice-cream because it tastes nice and comes in different colours and flavours. The colours, like bright green, are attractive to the eye and the flavours, like chocolate, stimulate your taste buds and release good chemicals in your brain.

Learner A makes an assertion but offers no support.

If they were talking in a social setting this would be fine – we all make statements like this every day.

In the context of a classroom discussion the statement has limited validity though.

It is not furthering understanding, seeking to persuade or articulating a thought process. It does not help the group to learn or to become wiser.

Learner B offers two reasons to explain why they like ice-cream.

These are presented in a connected form and there is an implied suggestion that colours and flavours are intimately linked.

There are two unstated premises: (i) something tasting nice is a good thing and (ii) variety is a good thing.

Learner C develops the reasoning further by going into detail about the nature of the colours and the flavours.

They provide reasons as to why these should be seen as good, giving examples in each case.

They also give some evidence in the shape of the scientific information concerning the release of chemicals.

It could be argued that they also provide evidence in the form of a widely-accepted concept – that of attractiveness.

This carries the connotations of aesthetics and the idea of beauty.

By using attractive in this way, the pupil is appealing to a notion commonly held in the wider community.

Clearly then, Learner C’s opinion carries more weight and is more persuasive than that of either Learner A or Learner B.

Again, this is not to discount their opinions, but it is to draw attention to the fact that reasoning, evidence and examples are key facets of persuasive argument.

When using discussion in the classroom, it is important to push learners’ reasoning.

This does not mean you should identify a particular style and ask everyone to conform.

Nor does it mean that discussions are a competitive search for the best reasoner.

Rather, it means learners should understand that they will be expected to give reasons, evidence and examples for the points they make and that the teacher will press them to do so.

Fostering such a culture in your classroom will help your learners to think more clearly, to speak more persuasively, and to write better.

It is worth spending some time talking to learners about what good reasoning entails, including the use of evidence and examples.

Here are three main types of reasoning.

Deductive Reasoning

If A then B.

If B then C.

Therefore, if A then C.

This involves being able to deduce a conclusion from logically prior premises.

The classic formulation of this is: All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

Inductive Reasoning

This is reasoning from observation.

I notice that the sun has risen every day of my life so far.

I reason from this that it will rise tomorrow.

A problem with inductive reasoning is that one counterexample can destroy the whole proposition.

For example: I see only white swans for the first seventeen years of my life.

Throughout that period, I work under the assumption that all swans are white – this argument being a result of my experience.

On my eighteenth birthday I go to a zoo and see a black swan.

My white swan proposition, even though I have seen hundreds of them over many years, is shot down by this one incident.

Analogical Reasoning

This is reasoning by analogy.

It involves making a judgement of similarity.

This involves noting that two things share something and that, consequently, they also have other similarities.

For example: society is like the human body. They both have important parts that work in unison yet remain quite different.

In addition to the different types of reasoning, it is worth making learners aware of some of the reasons why evidence and examples are important.

Evidence

This provides recognized and accepted support in the form of facts, observations, and other empirical data, or in the form of concepts or theoretical ideas that are held to be true or accurate by a number of people or groups.

Empirical evidence proves or disproves theories or hypotheses because these are statements made about the world.

The evidence is the data that is collected from observation, experience of, or experiments involving the world.

Therefore, it either holds true for what a statement about the world asserts, or it falsifies it.

Examples

Examples provide a specific real-world reference for an abstract point. They demonstrate that which is being asserted.

They take the abstract idea and make it concrete. This lends credence and acts as a form of evidence, making the case by referring to something that exemplifies it.