It is important to identify the purpose behind a discussion as this allows the teacher to direct matters and to judge whether an activity has been successful.

If you cannot accurately state why discussion is being used, then it is up for debate whether sufficient thought has gone into the planning of the lesson.

It may be that a teacher uses a discussion activity without having clear reasons as to why they have opted for it and without any knowledge as to what specific purposes the discussion is meant to serve.

Such a teacher may get lucky and deliver a brilliant, engaging lesson in which the use of discussion looks like a masterstroke.

If, however, that teacher cannot explain why they used discussion or what purposes it was intended to fulfil, then they are less likely to repeat the feat.

What is more, they will not be in possession of understanding.

This means that they will not be a skilled user of discussion and will not be maximising their chances of continually using it successfully (I say ‘maximising their chances’ because there is always a possibility that a discussion may fall flat).

Identifying the purpose of discussion can usually be done in less than a minute.

It requires the teacher to think about what they want the discussion to do in the context of the lesson and how it will help learners to learn.

Here are some examples of purposes of discussions:

• To allow learners to hear different opinions and ideas about a topic.
• To give learners the opportunity to develop understanding by working with others.
• To analyse a specific concept.
• To interrogate a proposition.
• To rehearse a range of arguments.
• To give learners the opportunity to develop their reasoning.
• To help learners actively engage with information they have previously studied.
• To provide a space in which to develop ideas.
• To allow the teacher to hear what learners think (and to use this information to inform their teaching).
• To engage learners in a specific topic.

Some of these are quite general, some more specific.

In any discussion, it is likely that there will be a few purposes, perhaps with one dominating and the rest being subordinate.

Having identified the purpose, or purposes, behind the use of discussion in a lesson, you will be in a better position to decide what type of discussion to use and how to structure it.

There will be a clear driving force informing the planning of discussion that would otherwise have been absent.

This will inevitably lead to better, more focussed planning and, as a result, better learning and greater learner progress.

In many situations it can be beneficial to share the purpose of a discussion with your learners.

Doing so provides clarity and gives a greater sense of meaning to the activity.

It can also help learners to assess their own contributions and those made by their peers.

In addition, you can use the purpose you have disclosed to draw learners back should they veer off topic or become disengaged.

For example, if your purpose is to get learners thinking critically about a topic, you can say something like: ‘That’s an interesting idea, can we be a bit more critical about it?’

Simple language like this draws the discussion back to its purpose and tends to land better if you’ve shared that purpose with learners early on.

Sharing the purpose of a discussion requires a brief consideration of what language is most appropriate.

Depending on the age of your class, you may need to couch your explanation in terms quite different from those that you would use with a colleague.

While this is an obvious point, it is one worth making.

You can spend thirty seconds in advance of the lesson working out how best to explain to learners why you are using discussion.

Finding the right language for your learners means your words will have more impact.