Discussion in a Democratic Society

When it came to reading “Discussion in a Democratic Society,” I found myself constantly thinking about how to remain neutral in a conversation while still sparking a heated debate about topics such as the DNR situation located in the beginning of this piece. A majority of the great teachers I have had find ways to always be neutral and not give away their personal feelings on a given topic. I believe that while teaching some of the hardest things to do is going to be remaining neutral while still inspiring students to talk and share all of their opinions to help spark a deep conversation.

On page four I found a quote that I found very inspiring and possibly something that gets overlooked from time to time. Richard Rorty states, “As long as conversation lasts, there is hope for agreement, or, at least, exciting and fruitful disagreement.” What I mean by it gets overlooked, is that often when people disagree now there will be fallout in conversation or no attempt to reach an agreement. I realize that when topics are very controversial that there will always be differing opinions, but often it seems that there is never enough people willing to listen to the other side to possibly reach an agreement or possibly even provide enough facts to prove their side is correct. Discussions often break down and turn into public disputes in which nothing becomes accomplished and the problems at hand are not solved.

While reading this the section that stuck out to me was titled “Hope.” This title stuck out to me because I realize that as long as there is hope there is a chance that things can be solved or possibly at least affected in a positive way possibly. Hope is something that can be personal while also being a part of a group which I find to be exciting because as we are looking to become teachers we will be involved in children’s lives on a daily basis both individually and as a group, so instilling hope will be a big factor in our job and how we may attempt to get our teachings across. While our jobs are going to be to educate children with our daily lessons, we can also change children’s lives by encouraging and challenging them to better themselves while pushing them to see what can happen.

As a whole this article really made me think about how to apply all of these sections to teaching while remaining neutral on tough topics and yet still be able to inform on both sides of a situation. Having this article use philosophers from the past reminded me how we can always learn from the past and possibly help the future at the same time. After reading this I look forward to in depth conversations and all of the challenges that they bring with them.