Facilitating your Discussion

Build Group Familiarity

Introduce yourself to the students, share something about yourself or your work that will help the students feel comfortable and set the tone that students will be sharing and connecting within the group.

•  Have the students introduce themselves, perhaps name and hometown

•  Pair students up and have one introduce the other to the group. 

•  Pair students up and ask them to introduce their "ideas" about the readings, be it in the form of a question, or a statement of what they found most compelling about the texts.

•  Ask students to share something that the group does not know about them yet

•  Have students play Federalist 10 bingo.

Setting the Context for the Discussion

Set expectations for discussion and help students engage in the discussion by reviewing the text and the ideas contained within the text.

•  Let students know that, for this discussion, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers.  The goal of the discussion session is to explore the text paying close attention to the variety of responses it will stimulate.  Everyone's perspective is valid. Part of college level inquiry is the ability to consider texts/situations from multiple points of view.

•  That said, it is also fine to disagree with what other people say, to have your own opinion.  But these should be expressed in a respectful way (see the Facilitation FAQs for more information about specific scenarios).

•  Set the context for discussions.  Share some of your own questions/knowledge/reactions in reading Federalist 10 and the other texts.  By briefly sharing your own thoughts, questions, and experiences, you encourage students to take risks of their own and share their thoughts. Use the resources in the context and resources section of this guide to assist you.

•  It may have been a month or longer since the students have read the material.  When citing specific passages, it might be helpful to have students read out loud the passage under discussion, and/or to have students supplement that with their own reconstruction of what they understood that passage/section to mean.

•  Consider an un-graded quiz to spark thinking. For instance: Whether you have or have not studied the constitution, how familiar are you with what is contained in that document, and within the Bill of Rights?

A. I am VERY familiar with the contents of the Constitution, and could identify each of the first 10 amendments

B. I am somewhat familiar with the contents of the Constitution, and could identify parts of some of the first 10 amendments

C. I am only partly familiar with the Constitution, and would not be able to identify much in the Bill of Rights.

D. I am really not at all familiar with the contents of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, but I know they exist and are important.

From: Chabot College

Activities that Promote Learning

Engage students in a discussion that connects the ideas from the text to their lives as first year students.

 

•  Given the size of the group, you might consider breaking students into several smaller groups to give everyone the opportunity to speak and share.  You may pose one question to all of the groups for discussion, or assign each group a different question, and then have the group nominate someone to report back to the larger group.  Your role as facilitator in this case would be to identify commonalities and differences among the group's perspectives, as well as to identify larger themes that grow out of the group's answers.

 

•  A technique that some facilitators have used is called "think-pair-share" whereby two identical sets of questions pertaining to the readings are typed out ahead of time, printed, and cut apart with one question per strip of paper.  (The question set should be around 20 questions, since the group size varies from 30-35 students).  Each student is then given a question and allotted some time to think and write about their answer independently.  Students are then instructed to find the student that has the same question that they do.  Once they've found each other, they share their responses.  Then the facilitator asks the pair to "share" their question with the group and to talk not only about their answer, but also about how similar or different their answers were.

 

•  Another "think-pair-share" option is having each student respond to the same questions individually on a note card (e.g. book/movie that represents you; your role model; an authority that lied to you; a time you disagreed with the leader of a group; a faction you belong to) then pair up with another student to discuss the answers. Connect to the themes in Federalist 10.

 

•  Have students generate a list of themes from Federalist 10 (e.g. Tension between individual vs. group; Tension between freedom and responsibility; Class differences; Freedom of religion; Role of government; Majority vs. minority; Self interest vs. common good; Citizenship/individual responsibility). Split students into small groups have them present to the larger group the meaning of their assigned theme and how it relates to the first year at JMU.

 

•  Consider asking students to think of the many examples of fierce political rivalries and the degree to which religion is a factor. After reading Federalist 10, why would Madison believe that this tension among diverse groups might actually benefit the people of an extended republic? Ask students to write a short reaction and then share in small groups, including whether they agree with Madison's thinking. Encourage students to connect Madison's ideas as expressed in Federalist 10 to specific scenarios in everyday life.

 

•  Consider using these questions as starting points for the group, either as a "think-pair-share" activity or as a place to begin talks in small groups.

1.  What is Madison's definition of "faction"?

2.  What are the causes of faction?

3.  What is the primary role of government?

4.  Where do the rights of property originate?

5.  How could we cure the "mischiefs of faction"?  And why are these remedies worse than the disease, according to Madison?

6.  What is Madison's solution for controlling the effects of factions?

7.  What is a republic, what is a pure democracy, and how do they differ?

8.  How does a republic inhibit the effects of factions, according to Madison?

 

•  Set up a debate based on the readings of both Federalist and Anti-Federalist perspectives.  Have the students identify the major points of contention and "translate" them into a more current debate of their ideals.

 

•  Try an Antonym Game to get the conversation going:

Ask "What is the opposite or antonym for…"

• Boy
• Night
• Big
• Democracy

 

Common opposites for democracy include:

•  Communism

•  Tyranny

•  Socialism

•  Fascism

•  Oligarchy

 

What are the commonalities in those opposites? In the case of "democracy" the opposites are lacking in individual rights and ways for "the people" to self-express and self-govern.  Many countries, like Belgium, have compulsory voting; that is, every eligible citizen MUST vote or face fines and other penalties.  Does this mean that they are not "democratic" or that they are "less free" than Americans who can choose not to vote (and usually do)?

 

But does democracy equal individual rights? What about a powerful faction in a democracy that squashes individual rights.

 

•  Bring in a current article, political cartoon, or letter to the editor that does not immediately seem to connect to Federalist 10 (something on campaign finance reform, gun control lobbies, presidential debates…) and start the discussion there.  Using surprising questions often forces students to make connections that they might not have seen otherwise.

 

•  Ask students to make sense of quotes such as the following: "It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency."

 

•  Here's another interesting quote: In Federalist 10, James Madison said that "a zeal for certain opinions concerning religion and government have divided mankind into parties, and inflamed them with mutual animosities." He said "because of this, mankind would rather oppress each other than to cooperate for the common good."

 

•  Use topical/current examples that get at the tension between states and Federal government. Here are some issues that you students can wrestle with:

1. Under the National Minimum Drinking Age Act passed by Congress in 1984 States that did not uphold a minimum drinking age of 21 would lose 10 percent of their federal highway funding. Although the drinking age is technically set by the states, the Federal government is using its leverage to determine the age.

2. What if you are a member of a faction opposed to or supportive of abortion and your position is in the majority for that state? Should we have states that do allow abortion and then some that do not? Isn't a true democracy when the laws reflect the will of the people? What is the will of the people? Are there territorial limits to democracy?

3. The common good and social attitudes are constantly shifting. For instance today most people would be aghast at the idea of outlawing inter-racial marriages, however 50 years ago many white people supported existing laws banning inter-racial marriages. What we have consensus about today we did not then. However, today we may be able to find minorities who would argue for just such a ban. What do we do with a faction like that? Similarly, 50 years ago there were factions that were opposed to the ban and eventually after a long struggle this "faction" became the majority.

 

•  Iraq. How would a strong constitution help in Iraq? Is it always "democratic" if the majority votes in a way that benefits the Shiites at the expense of the Sunnis and Kurds? Is majority rule always democratic? Does Federalism solve this? What are the limits to democracy?

 

•  To some Americans, "democracy" seems natural, as if it's always been that way. Globally speaking, it's a pretty recent, post-1920's phenomenon.  Where does this idea come from?   

 

 

 

 

Closure

Summarize discussions around points of consensus, note the discrepancies, and leave students with questions to ponder.

•  Consider asking students to reflect privately (or with the group) one important thing they learned in the discussion and one thing that they can "take with them" as they begin their first semester at JMU.