Content uploaded by Paul Sevigny
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Paul Sevigny on Nov 08, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
Extreme Discussion Circles:
Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Paul Sevigny
Abstract
This paper reports on the implementation of “The Harkness Method” of teaching at a private boarding high school in the United
States in which 50% of the students were international (ESL) students. This private school adopted “The Harkness Method” across
multiple subject areas, and thus, ESL students in mainstream courses had to participate in student-centered, text-based discussion on
a daily basis. The ESL program had to adapt rubrics and materials to empower ESL high school students to succeed in these
discussions alongside native speakers of English. The radical shift to a learner-centered format from the top of the school downward
resulted in enormous pressure on ESL students and teachers to shift to this learner-centered, text-based discussion protocol. The
implementation of “The Harkness Method” in private and International Baccalaureate (IB) high schools in the U.S. will continue to
spread, making adaptation necessary for other ESL programs and those preparing EFL students for study abroad. This article will be
of interest to school administrators who seek a way to improve the verbal participation of non-native English speakers in
mainstream courses, and a reference for directors of ESL. The term Discussion Circles is suggested to describe a broader range of
content and input.
Key Terms: Harkness Method, English as a Second Language (ESL), Discussion Circles, reading circles, literature circles, text-
based discussion, learner-centered curriculum
1. Introduction
The year 2007 was pivotal at the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Washington, because the director of the Upper School along with
the Head of School and Board of Directors had decided to move forward with the plan to become an International Baccalaureate
(IB) Program under the auspices of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In order to ramp up to the higher standards
that would be required of our high school students, the director of the upper school (high school) decided to implement the use of
the “Harkness Method” –basically, a formalized discussion circle protocol used in every subject—including math and science, but
starting with English and social studies. If you teach ESL in a school adopting the “Harkness Method” you will find this article of
use. First, do not panic. In many ways, you should sigh in relief that your superiors have embraced a learner-centered teaching
methodology. After all, way back in 1988, David Nunan’s landmark Learner-Centered Curriculum: A Study in Second Language
Teaching led the way for the communicative teaching approach to spread throughout second language programs around the world,
so if international students at your school will transition into small discussion circles with native speakers while still in the critical
period for language acquisition1 you have much to be thankful for. That is, gaining comfort with this pressure in high school, from
my experience, quickly familiarized younger language learners with a wide variety of skills key to overall academic success: note
taking from reading, common short-hand, turn taking etiquette, backing up opinions with reasons, text referencing, transition words
and expressions, recognizing and playing different roles in discussion, and risk taking. The great experiment of Annie Wright
1 See Tokudome (2010) for a recent review of literature on the Critical Period Hypothesis
Abstract
This paper reports on the implementation of “The Harkness Method” of teaching at a private boarding high school in the
United States in which 50% of the students were international (ESL) students. This private school adopted “The Harkness
Method” across multiple subject areas, and thus, ESL students in mainstream courses had to participate in student-
centered, text-based discussion on a daily basis. The ESL program had to adapt rubrics and materials to empower ESL
high school students to succeed in these discussions alongside native speakers of English. The radical shift to a learner-
centered format from the top of the school downward resulted in enormous pressure on ESL students and teachers to shift
to this learner-centered, text-based discussion protocol. The implementation of “The Harkness Method” in private and
International Baccalaureate (IB) high schools in the U.S. will continue to spread, making adaptation necessary for other
ESL programs and those preparing EFL students for study abroad. This article will be of interest to school administrators
who seek a way to improve the verbal participation of non-native English speakers in mainstream courses, and a reference
for directors of ESL. The term Discussion Circles is suggested to describe a broader range of content and input.
Key terms:
Harkness Method, English as a Second Language (ESL), Discussion Circles, reading circles, literature circles,
text-based discussion, learner-centered curriculum
Extreme Discussion Circles:
Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Paul Sevigny
181
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
School was that 50% of high school students were ESL students, mostly from Taiwan, Korea, and China. The Harkness Method met
the needs of both native and non-native speakers alike, providing a window into the thinking processes of the students as they
engaged with content, and motivating them to be more thoughtful in their preparation for and participation in class.
In 2008, the Annie Wright Upper School integrated high school ESL students from the first day. These 15 year old
international students usually took ninth grade English, social studies, geometry and art with native speakers, and met once per day
in a self-contained ESL course where content pulled straight from these subject areas could be scaffolded to provide support and
focus on second language issues. Students had to be bright, outgoing intermediate level students in order to progress successfully
toward the stated 100 score on the Internet Based TOEFL test before high school graduation. For primary and middle school EFL
programs and agents that prepare middle school students for American boarding school entrance in ninth grade, implementing a
gradual introduction to Discussion Circles will make for a much softer landing and transition. Relevant literature to consult includes
that on Literature Circles (Shelton, 2011), (Mark, 2007), (Daniels, 2002) and Reading Circles (Soliman, 2012).
2. What is the Harkness Method?
For teachers of ESL steeped in second language teaching literature, it might come as a surprise that a revolution in mainstream
educational teaching philosophy had started in New Hampshire in the 1920s when a philanthropist, Edward Harkness, approached
the principal of Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), offering to fund an innovative method of education that would improve American
education. Ten years later, the faculty went back to Mr. Harkness with a plan to change Exeter’s teacher-centered format to a
discussion format where students take the lead in their learning, demonstrating critical thinking at a round table (Smith and Foley,
2009). More formalized than an approach to teaching, the “Harkness Method” was applied in all major subject areas, including
math and science. The term “Harkness Method” is part and parcel to the discourse community of American independent schools,
which comprises one sector of the audience of this paper.
For second language teachers, just hearing the word “method” after someone’s name is a red flag—after all, we are in the
post method era of second language teaching2, are we not? For this reason, and to placate the second language teaching discourse
community, the term “Harkness Method” would better be referred to as Harkness Discussion Circle to denote one kind of
Discussion Circle that will find its place among all the other methods we employ. More broadly, I will use the term Discussion
Circle separately from Literature Circles because Discussion Circles may be employed across the curriculum, not just in dealing
with literature, and for second language teaching purposes, may draw from listening in addition to reading materials. In practice, the
“Harkness Method” is just the adoption of a narrowly defined, intensive Discussion Circle as the default format for classroom
interaction. Simply put, it is a student led, text-based discussion in which students talk about what a text means to them, while the
teacher observes from outside the circle. In short, it is a great way for a teacher to listen and observe students in the process of
interpreting a text, which gives the teacher a clear window into students’ reading and or listening comprehension. The table usually
does not stretch beyond more than 18 students in a mainstream class, with about 8-12 students being ideal for an ESL Harkness
discussion. What is extreme about a school adopting the Harkness Method is that students are required to discuss content
substantively in every class, on a daily basis.
2 See Richards and Rodgers (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching
182
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Extreme Discussion Circles: Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
There is also a mainstream American University movement toward student-centered, student-initiated discussion, which
was set out quite persuasively by Parker Palmer in The Courage to Teach (1998). He describes the status quo as the “Objectivist
Myth of Knowing.” Figure 1 is my representation of Palmer’s model. While Americans may have heard about how few students
raise their hand to participate in classrooms in Asia, leading American teachers realize that the teacher-fronted classroom is still the
dominant format in American schools, too. Palmer describes the dominant model as teacher-expert who mediates the object of study
for the amateurs who remain passive, dependent upon the experts for “pure knowledge” under clouds of ignorance and bias.
Figure 1: Palmer’s (1998) Objectivist Model of Knowing (with clouds)
Palmer describes his alternative ideal: “The Community of Truth.” He posits that the teacher and students are all equal participants
with the subject of study in the middle of the circle, where the subject can be interpreted from many more perspectives. Truth, in the
center of the circle, is identified in community, through discussion that leads to “recognition of consensus and conflict.” Figure 2 is
an illustration of Palmer’s “Community of Truth” in the form of an ideal Harkness map. Both Palmer and the Harkness Method
view students as equal “knowers” of a subject. Palmer, however, sees himself as an equal with the students—another knower within
the circle. In the Harkness Method, however, the teacher is removed from the circle. He or she is an observer (and evaluator) of the
students’ discussion. Otherwise, Palmer’s “Community of Truth” model is almost identical to the Harkness model (cf. Palmer,
pages 99-102).
183
Extreme Discussion Circles:Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Figure 2. Harkness Discussion Circle with possible pathways for turns
3. Why have we not heard of the Harkness Method?
First, the method was developed in a first language high school context, and thus was not much heard of in second language
acquisition contexts. Another reason that there has not been more transfer of the Harkness Method to other contexts may be the
perception that class sizes need to stay small. However, there are ways around this problem. There can be multiple groups,
multitasking, with one group preparing, and one doing Harkness with the teacher observing. Baurain (2007) describes how
multitasking can make discussion possible in large EFL classes. A third reason the movement has not transferred more to second
language contexts is the more rigid text-based focus, which makes it more appropriate for higher-level second-language learners.
Herein lies the gap for EFL and ESL teachers—to sequence discussion protocols in stair-step fashion, to reduce the shock that
intermediate students encounter when first experiencing intense, text-based discussion with other international students and native
speakers of English.
4. Implementation of Harkness at a High School
High school English and social studies teachers will likely be the first teachers to receive training, with astute administrators
including ESL faculty in the very first wave of training. Faculty Harkness Discussion Circles were the best way to get used to the
new medium. At Annie Wright, teachers took turns choosing articles for the faculty group to all read. I personally found the
experience quite positive, but also a bit competitive, as it is clear that one’s contributions will have an impact on one’s reputation at
the table. Our group of faculty included the head of the English department, a social studies teacher, a math teacher and several
others. First we read Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Day’s Wait”
(Hemingway, 1961).
While this story is short, the pronouns
alone make it difficult to interpret clearly. However, it was clear that with practice, this was going to be a very productive way to
184
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Extreme Discussion Circles: Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
learn from literature, social studies and science texts with our colleagues, because there was authentic pressure to prepare comments
and questions in order to make a good contribution to the discussion.
For the ESL faculty, the next step was to discern how classroom teachers would evaluate our students in the Harkness
Discussion Circles. It became clear very quickly that international students were threatened with failing courses because of the new
emphasis placed on daily participation. Overall, the Annie Wright administration pursued a dogmatic, orthodox approach to the
implementation, which made almost every class discussion feel like a high stakes performance. The real genius of Harkness
discussions is that if one has not done her reading homework, she cannot escape. She will have nothing to do but keep silent.
Unfortunately, for ESL students, even doing the reading does not guarantee participation in the discussion, and thus we started in
earnest to develop tools to empower the students. What ESL students facing Harkness Discussion Circles need is to experience a
wide variety of low stakes exercises that gradually develop the many important sub-skills that will be introduced next.
5. A Rubric for ESL Harkness Discussion Circles
Perhaps the simplest, and most logical step to designing ESL courses that prepare international students for Discussion Circles is to
start with the necessary outcomes. In the crucible of those first months of implementation, the rubric that emerged was derived from
assessment standards written for integrated mainstream classes that included the following:
1. Student Preparation—students must complete a reading and bring the highlighted, annotated text to class. The student’s
notes should exhibit the markings and added comments that elaborate on background information, predict important
discussion threads, and elucidate challenging questions with text references.
2. Listening—students demonstrate listening skill by not interrupting, echoing the previous speaker’s idea, not changing the
topic until a thread is exhausted.
3. Non-verbal—students look for text references while listening; actively take notes, use gestures, eye contact and facial
expressions to intensify verbal responses. Students exhibit posture of attention and wakefulness.
4. Risk taking—students must demonstrate trust in her own understanding of the text to share her ideas, no matter how
rough; dare to go deeper in asking and answering challenging questions.
5. Conversational techniques—students direct questions to a variety of classmates by name, or direct the question to the
table (opens next turn to anyone who has something to share). Students use a variety of transitions appropriately, and can
echo previous speaker’s idea plus make one of the following discussion moves: add a point, or disagree with evidence
from text.
6. Critical thinking—student makes good connections to ideas, comments, texts from homework, other assignments, clearly
explains why her citations support her interpretation of the text.
7. Text references—student consistently uses text-based evidence—paraphrases, quotations, charts or illustrations with exact
page numbers and areas and further, these text references directly relate to the discussion.
185
Extreme Discussion Circles:Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
The ESL faculty responded with a rubric tailored to ESL students that had six categories: planning for discussion, risk-taking,
conversational techniques, non-verbal behavior, critical thinking, and text references (see Appendix). Each category is graded on a
four-point scale, with qualitative descriptions of each performance level. This rubric was actually developed with the students in the
first cohort to experience Harkness Discussion Circles.
6. Roles in Harkness Discussion Circles
The teacher’s role in Harkness tends to be that of an observer, but one that does provide the content that the students read. The
teacher seems to follow the typical route of making sure that he/she is NOT the ‘sage on the stage,’ and not even so much the ‘guide
on the side,’ but rather one ‘leading from behind.’ Conferencing with students about their performance with the rubric becomes
important just like conferencing helps students with writing skills.
There are several roles for students to learn. The first and most noticeable of these roles is the conversation “mapper.” This
student draws a diagram of the table with the names of each student in their seats, and a dot in the center of the table, to represent
questions that are asked “to the table,” that is, questions that are not directed to another individual, but rather to anyone who wants
to answer (see Figure 2). The result is quite telling in that it records the number of turns that each student took in the discussion. A
further coding that the mapper can add when she draws a line from one student to the next is to add a tick on the line (turn) when the
student gives a text reference. That way both the number of turns and the number of text references for each participant is recorded
(See Appendix, bottom left).
The student’s role in general is to carefully read the article, annotate and highlight it, and then to be a participant in the
discussion. The student needs to ask questions, state ideas, show evidence from the text that backs up her ideas, agree and/or
disagree with classmates, carefully listen to classmates’ ideas, and use appropriate turn-taking and topic changing etiquette. The
student needs to use the following etiquette at the table (from Collins, 2008):
1. Addresses classmates by name, makes eye contact
2. Disagrees and argues, but does not make personal attacks or insults
3. Listens carefully to peer comments, thinking before responding
4. Does not cut people off
5. Avoids the urge to dominate
6. Avoids the urge to hide and “check out”
7. Is open-minded towards others’ ideas
8. Admits when someone makes a good point or when they are wrong
9. Only changes the subject when it’s obviously time to and avoids comments that do not relate with the topic being
explored at the moment
10. Respects everyone at the table
11. Knows that all students are responsible for the success of the class.
186
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
187
Extreme Discussion Circles:Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
4. “I think the punishment of a lower participation grade is fair for non-native speakers in mainstream classes. I can’t
participate at the same level as American students, although what Americans say in discussion is really shallow
sometimes, and I realize I have better answers.”
These statements reveal the level of anxiety felt by a very talented, but quiet, Asian student. There was no doubt from her reputation
that she did the work and went into these discussions prepared for class, but when it came to participating, it was very difficult.
These observations are important for mainstream faculty to consider, and bring up some of the problems ESL administrators have in
sensitizing mainstream faculty to language issues faced by ESL students. On the flip side, international students bridging into
mainstream courses need to be reminded of the “fake-it-till-you-make-it” phase where she feels anxious, but counter-intuitively,
needs to project a relaxed persona, and be “thick-skinned” thereby letting perceived criticism roll off her back.
I recently conducted a follow up interview with this same student, who is currently a second year college student at a
university in Asia. We reviewed her feelings about the Harkness Discussion Circle experience at Annie Wright three years ago and
then I asked her how she views that high school ESL experience now, in the light of her college experience. Here are some of her
comments:
1. “To be honest I didn't enjoy it much when we were told to use it for all classes possible. I felt kind of forced by
teachers.”
2. “But now thinking back upon it, it actually helped me to work on the materials given more deeply and helped me to
try to find meanings or patterns or whatever.”
Then I asked her if she has experienced anything like the Harkness Discussion Circle since Annie Wright School. Here were her
thoughts:
1. “Well...yes, but often it does not work out that well, at least in the classes I was in. It doesn't go that deep enough,
really superficial…”
2. “But maybe because I don't have a major yet (no majors for freshmen here) so I take the lowest level of all classes. I
heard that classes for majors are much more in-depth.”
3. “Yes, and because Annie Wright School is so small, and the teachers are so focused on the students. They show you
attention all the time and they try to help, or make students do their work, but in college it's your own work. You
need to do it and no one forces you or tries to help you in everything, but I know that some professors really want to
make classes more discussion based.”
I asked one more question about how teachers and students might view the Harkness Discussion Circle at such an Asian university,
and she responded with “they” referring to both professors and students at different times, so I added emphasis for clarity.
1. “Ideally they [teachers] want to use the method I think, but another problem is the students. Asian students are not
really used to discussions and they tend to be afraid of it.”
188
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Extreme Discussion Circles: Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
2. “ Or they [students] don't care much about the classes or what they are learning and they [teachers] just want to make
it easy for them by avoiding it.”
3. “Some students are really engaged and want to learn, but a lot of people don't want to...I think...they just want the
easiest way. Or they just need to focus on other things, all the things they need for employment.”
8. Discussion
This anonymous student knows the situation for teachers and students. She recognized that a small school with demanding faculty
helped her to engage more with the material. She also recognized her own distaste for the work involved with both engaging the
content and the native speakers across the table. In retrospect, this student was in the very first cohort of students to exper ience the
Harkness Method at Annie Wright School, where all students experience both mainstream and ESL classes from day one (there was
no intensive EAP option). In this regard, she did not experience a well-designed scope and sequence in her prior EFL program, but
only a small, concurrent ESL support to Harkness Discussion Circles. Perhaps if she had experienced a more mature program, she
could have had a more comfortable transition to the rigors of mainstream courses.
It is also interesting that this student has observed that university level class discussion can often be superficial, and that
there are reasons for both teachers and students to avoid in-depth discussion in class—to take the easiest path. The cloud that most
classrooms face is disengagement from meaningful, engrossing interaction with both texts and other students, usually in a teacher-
fronted format. On a recent visit from Hawai’i, J.D. Brown observed that when both teachers and students appear to be very
comfortable and happy, that perhaps it is time to feel nervous, perhaps it is time to evaluate carefully (Brown, 2011).
9. Conclusion
There are still many obstacles in the paths of ESL faculty and their students on the way towards ESL students communicating
successfully in mainstream courses. Hopefully, some of the ideas in this article will help ESL teachers prepare non-native English
speaking students for Discussion Circles in mainstream coursework. Also, for teachers preparing EFL students for study abroad in
private high schools in ESL contexts, preparing students for taking notes from readings, taking on a variety of roles in discussion,
using logical transitions for agreement, adding points, disagreement, pointing to specific passages in texts, listening and taking notes
from discussion, and many more skills are clearly necessary. Overall, I believe the school’s adoption of Harkness Discussion Circles
did challenge our non-native speaking students to get to an even higher level of language proficiency, and in an elite high school
setting, this only helped more international students to attain their goals of getting admitted to prestigious American colleges. From
my observations, for school administrators to implement more learner-centered forms of instruction in mainstream courses may put
more pressure on non-native speakers, but while it sets the bar higher, it also gives all faculty members clear goals for how to
support students’ success. Perhaps more school administrators will consider adopting stronger means of learner-centered
performance that encourage literacy development across the board.
References
Baurain, B. (2007). Small group multitasking in literature classes. ELT Journal, 61(3), 237-245.
Brown, J.D. (2011, November). Establishing a Framework for Language Curriculum Evaluation at APU. Lecture presented at
189
Extreme Discussion Circles:Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan.
Daniels, H. (2002). Literature circles: Voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups (Second Edition). Portland, ME:
Stenhouse.
Collins, T. (2008). Harkness roles. Unpublished manuscript. Social Studies Department. Annie Wright School, Tacoma, WA, USA.
Hemingway, E. (1961). The snows of kilimanjaro and other stories. New York: Scribner.
Mark, P. L. (2007). Building a community of EFL readers: Setting up Literature Circles in a Japanese university. In K. Bradford-
Watts (ed.). JALT Conference Proceedings. Tokyo, JALT.
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum: a study in second language teaching. Cambridge [England]; New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge Univ Pr.
Shelton-Strong, S.J. (2012). Literature Circles in ELT. ELT Journal, 66(2), 214-223.
Smith, L., & Foley, M. (2009). Partners in a human enterprise: Harkness teaching in the history classroom. The History
Teacher, 42(4), 477-496. Retrieved from http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ht/42.4/smith.html
Soliman, N. (2012). Integrating extensive reading and reading circles in ESL. IJGE: International Journal of Global Education 1(1),
26-34.
Tokudome, M. (2010). Unlikely bedfellows: The critical period hypothesis and its unlikely effects on second language
acquisition. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 14(1), 18-27. Retrieved from
http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/flesa/TPFLE_New/Issues/Summer 2010/3_Makoto Tokudome.pdf
190
Polyglossia Volume 23, October 2012
Extreme Discussion Circles: Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”
Appendix
191
Extreme Discussion Circles:Preparing ESL Students for “The Harkness Method”