From publisher: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/wtcyat-discussion-questions/
From University of Richmond https://onebook.richmond.edu/_KP4_content/images/onebook/2018-19-onebook/OBORdiscussionguide.pdf
Tips for Discussions from Instructors Abigail Droge and Chris Dean
Ground the conversation in the text.
Thinking about the narrative “arc” of a discussion can be helpful -- you can start the session by discussing a specific passage and then build out to larger-scale questions about how our current social moment impacts the way we read this text, how reading this text might impact our current social moment, etc. Or you can start with students’ own experiences (which they are already experts in) and move into the text, etc, etc -- there are many different progressions that work well. Having an idea in advance of the discussion’s major “plot points” can be helpful in providing a loose framework, which can then still be flexible enough to respond to participants’ interests.
Other ideas:
Ask everyone to come to the meeting with a passage from the text. Ask 'Why did you choose this passage?"
The Circle Way is a lightly formalized, lightly facilitated social structure that allows people to use circle process in a wide range of settings.
COMPONENTS OF CIRCLE What transforms a meeting into a circle is the willingness of people to shift from informal socializing or opinionated discussion into a receptive attitude of thoughtful speaking and deep listening that embodies the practices and structures outlined here.
Establishing discussion ground rules is a good way to ensure the conversation is productive, thoughtful, and inclusive. Here are some examples of ground rules you can ask your group to agree to in advance.
Courtesy of Dr. Michelle Grue
Guidelines for dialogue / community expectations from University of Michigan's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
Sample Guidelines for Social Justice Education Contexts (Sensoy & Diangelo p. 8)
Strive for intellectual humility. Be willing to grapple with challenging ideas.
Differentiate between opinion--which everyone has--and informed knowledge, which comes from sustained experience, study, and practice. Hold your opinions lightly and with humility.
Let go of personal anecdotal evidence and look at broader group-level patterns.
Notice your own defensive reactions and attempt to use these reactions as entry points for gaining deeper self-knowledge, rather than as a rationale for closing off.
Recognize how your own social positionality (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, ability) informs your perspectives and reactions to your instructor and those whose work you study in the course.
Differentiate between safety and comfort. Accept discomfort as necessary for social justice growth.
Identify where your learning edge is and push it. For example, whenever you think, I already know this, ask yourself, How can I take this deeper? Or, How am I applying in practice what I already know?