Circle Time Discussion Strategy: Explanation
Arrange the room so all the tables are moved to one side and the chairs are set out in a circle.
Learners and teacher take a seat, as well as any support staff who are working with the class.
Sitting in a circle creates a sense of equality; no one is at the head or the front; each person has an equal position.
For this reason, all those who are in the room should be included in the circle.
Explain to learners that there will be a discussion in which everyone will have an opportunity to share their views, with no one being excluded.
You should provide some sort of item that indicates whose turn it is to speak.
This could be a soft toy, a foam ball or a conch shell, for example.
The item is passed to the person who is to speak, and they hold it while they are talking.
Initially, the teacher decides who is to receive the item each time.
As learners become familiar with the activity, they should be able to manage the turn-taking themselves.
The discussion starts off with the teacher providing a question, statement or some stimulus material.
Learners are asked to think about this, then to share their ideas with the person next to them. From this, a whole-group discussion ensues, with ideas and opinions flowing back and forth across the circle.
Circle Time Discussion Strategy: Example
Topic: Animal Rights
The teacher begins by asking the class to rearrange the room into a circle of chairs.
This allows learners to immediately work in concert with one another, as will be the expectation when they engage in discussion.
With pupils sat down, the teacher might choose to do a warm-up activity.
Memory, drama, and movement games tend to work best.
There are three key reasons for doing such an activity.
First, it breaks the ice and allows learners time to familiarise themselves with the circle format.
Second, it reinforces the sense of togetherness and of working as a group.
Third, it allows the teacher to discreetly mix up the pupils (learners will often sit in friendship or gender groups, which sometimes hinders discussion).
The question ‘Do animals have rights?’ is placed on the board.
Learners are invited to think silently about this for thirty seconds.
They are then asked to spend a minute discussing their thoughts with the person sat next to them.
Finally, the teacher draws the group back together and asks for a volunteer to begin the main discussion.
They are given the speaker’s item and the rest flows from there.
Circle Time Discussion Strategy: Extensions and Developments
- Appoint one or two learners to oversee the speaker’s item. They decide who is to speak next (although this must be done fairly) and move the item from the current speaker to the next person.
- Split the circle in two and ask each half to look at a different aspect of the question. In the above case this could be: (i) the nature of rights and (ii) the relationship between animals and humans. Bring the class back together and ask each side to share their findings.
