Using discussion in instruction may facilitate spaces where students can engage with difficult and opposing ideas as a form of shared inquiry. Discussion is part of a larger curricular goal that intersects the two aspirations of diversity of perspectives and democratic inquiry in that it challenges stereotypes and assumptions through student interactions. An essential goal of discussion is increased personal understanding of difficult issues through social learning. Discussion pedagogy engages students with issues that surpass the self and connects them with larger societal problems, allowing them to expand their perspectives and increase their worldviews of difficult issues. Discussions may have the capability to advance the publicsphere through the use of critical and reasoned discourse.Nevertheless, teaching with discussion is a complex and sometimes ambiguous endeavor.

Introduction -- Participating and witnessing -- Democracy and safety -- Structured and unstructured discussions -- Scholarliness and personal experience -- Cognitive and social/emotional learning -- Product and process -- Relational and personal learning -- Autonomy and open-mindness -- Dialoguing and questioning -- Whole and small groups -- Conclusion -- References.