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Philosophical Chairs provides students with the opportunity to engage in an informal dialogue over a controversial statement/prompt. This activity supports students’ ability to reason, think critically, and discuss different points of view with other students in the class. In addition, this strategy supports students’ ability to clearly communicate ideas, defend reasoning by citing evidence, and using academic language to relate key ideas about a topic.
HANDOUTS and RESOURCES:
Example Topics for Philosophical Chairs.pdfElementary Sample Topics
PhilosophicalChairsTopicsRevised.pdfSecondary Sample Topics
SET UP:
In advance, determine how to divide your space for students to stand for the debate. Standing will typically involve two lines of students, each with a different position on the topic. Think of an open area or a long corridor where students discuss back and forth and with the possibility of movement from side to side.
STEPS:
DETERMINE CENTRAL STATEMENT: Choose a controversial prompt that is designed for students to discuss different points of view and pick a side for a debate
DECONSTRUCT CENTRAL STATEMENT: Students read through the central statement, discuss and define all terms that might be unfamiliar.
PRE-DISCUSSION ORGANIZER: Students write the central statement and record all the reasons that they agree or disagree with the statement.
CHOOSE A SIDE: On the pre-discussion organizer, students summarize whether they agree or disagree with the central statement.
STUDENTS MOVE: Choose which side of the room represents a stance for agree and disagree. Have students move based on their choice.
DEBATE BEGINS: Have a student from either side begin the conversation and instruct students to alternate the side that is speaking.
THREE BEFORE ME: Use the “three before me” rule, so different students speak. This means that students should allow at least three other students to speak before they speak again.
USE DISCUSSION FRAMES (Primary or Intermediate): Have students summarize previous students’ augment before giving their own point of view. Tip: Provide frames to allow for helpful conversations.
SWITCHING SIDES: Encourage students to move if they are convinced by the other side’s arguments.
DEBRIEF SESSION: Conclude with a debrief focusing on the process and how to improve for next time.
CREATING A PROMPT THAT WORKS:
The prompt for Philosophical Chairs can dictate the success or failure almost immediately. The prompt must be engaging, easily understood, and clearly divided into two sides. A successful prompt will encourage students to debate the merits of the content behind the statement or question—and not allow students to hide behind one word as they search for a technicality in their argumentation.
When creating a prompt, consider the following:
Be sure that the issue has two debate-worthy sides. If more arguable positions exist, consider using Four Corners instead.
Instead of: Alternative energy sources are better than oil. (Which alternative energy sources are better than oil: wind, solar, geothermal, or nuclear? Is the argument one of alternative energy versus fossil fuels in general, which include natural gas and coal?)
Try: Increased resources should be invested into making alternative energy sources efficient, instead of finding more ways to extract fossil fuels.
Keep the prompt topic narrow enough to avoid overwhelming students, but open enough to provide a sufficient amount of debatable material.
Instead of: Addressing global poverty should be the world’s focus. (This is too overwhelming.)
Or: The impoverished need free housing. (This is too narrow in scope.)
Try: State governments should raise income taxes to provide low-income housing for the working poor.
Choose your ambiguity carefully and make it work for you. Instead of: Hosting the Olympic Games is a waste. (“Waste” is too vague.)
Try: Does hosting the Olympic Games use more resources than it is worth?
(“Resources” is ambiguous—it could mean labor, capital, or environmental—but all of these considerations must be critically scrutinized and measured against the Olympic Games’ worth, which could refer to the financial, cultural, or political benefits.)
Avoid superlatives and absolute phrasing, such as “all,” “every,” and “never.” Consider using comparatives instead.
Instead of: Football is the best high school sport. (“Best” is a superlative.)
Try: Football provides greater benefits to high schools than basketball. (“Greater” is a comparative.)
Instead of: Middle school students should never have homework. (“Never” is an absolute term.)
Try: Middle school homework should be reserved for projects and test preparation.
EXAMPLE PROMPTS:
Government should limit the types of content allowed on the internet.
University education should be free for all citizens.
Wild animals should not be kept in captivity.
Performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in professional sports.
Video game violence leads to more aggressive children.
Vegetarianism should be promoted at the middle school level in order to promote healthy living.
Freedom of speech is more of a privilege than a right.
Genetically modified organisms in food benefit humanity more than they hurt it.
American schools should lengthen the school days in order for students to compete more favorably on a global scale.
Human organs should be made available through not-for-profit corporations and charities.
The United States should withdraw from the United Nations.
Animals should not be used as objects of sport and/or entertainment.
Middle school students should be given more exercise opportunities during the school day.
Music promoting or glorifying violent or criminal lifestyles should be banned.
Torture is an acceptable practice to gain information from suspected terrorists.
Teachers should not interact with students through social networking websites.
A student should be held legally responsible for bullying if it resulted in the victim’s death.
The United States should address its own national financial needs before financially supporting other countries.
Social media does more harm than good for middle school students.
Food created with nanotechnology will greatly benefit humanity.
Tobacco should be illegal for purchase or use.
Discussions about religion should be allowed in schools.
Students should be allowed to formally rate their teachers each year.
The death penalty should be mandatory for those who commit rape or premeditated murder.
Students should be able to work without parental consent at the age of 16.
Students should be able to choose which high school they attend.
Parents should be held responsible for their children’s behavior until the age of 18.
Girls should be able to participate in full-contact sports with boys.
Prisoners serving multiple life sentences should be freed at the age of 80.
Teaching about religion should be allowed in public schools outside of the regular school day.
War is unavoidable.
Everything we do is done mainly for ourselves, and this is true for everyone.
Our nation should maintain an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Our nation should adopt official neutrality, similar to Switzerland.
Men can care for children as well as women can.
The voting age should be lowered to 16.
Adopted children should be allowed to obtain information about their biological parents efore the age of 18.
Recipients of heart, lung, and liver transplants should be given the identity of the organ donors.
Offshore drilling should be discontinued.
Greater penalties should be given to oil companies for oil spills.
Computer crimes should receive stiffer penalties.
Schools should have mandatory drug testing for athletes.
The number of appeals before capital punishment is carried out should be limited to three.
A sentence of capital punishment should be imposed within a one-year time period of the crime.
Those charged with an offense should not be allowed to plead “no contest.”
Plea bargaining should not be allowed.
The state government should provide shelter for the homeless.
Refugees from Central and South American countries should be permitted to immigrate to the United States.
The income tax should be abandoned as a source of federal and state revenue.
The graduated income tax—higher for wealthy people—should be replaced by a flat tax for everyone.
All chemicals that cause damage to the environment should be prohibited from use or sale to the general public.
Pesticides should be outlawed for food crops.
Cosmetic surgery should be banned.
High school dropouts should not be able to obtain a driver’s license.
Retail stores should not be allowed to use plastic bags for customer purchases.
RULES OF ENGAGMENT:
Maintain your understanding of the prompt or central statement throughout the activity.
Actively listen to the person who is speaking.
Wait for the teacher or facilitator to recognize you before you speak; only one person speaks at a time.
Seek to understand the opposing speaker’s point of view, even if you do not agree with them.
Briefly summarize the previous speaker’s argument before you make your response.
Contribute your own thoughts, offering your reasons as succinctly as possible.
Respond to statements and ideas only, not to the person giving them.
Change your mind about the central statement as new information or reasoning is presented.
Refrain from having side conversations during the debate portion of the activity.
Move to the opposite side or to the undecided position if your thinking grows and changes as a result of convincing arguments from the opposing side.
Support the discussion by maintaining order and contributing constructive comments.
CHARTING THE CONVERSATION:
This activity allows both the students and the teacher to track who is speaking and how often. Charting the conversation can act as a visual cue for students who perhaps haven’t contributed during the discussion, and can be the basis for meaningful debrief and reflection following the conclusion of the discussion.
Instructional Steps:
Draw two lines on the whiteboard or flipchart, labeling one side “Agree” and the other, “Disagree.”
Write the names or initials of students on either side depending on where they are standing (this actually takes less time than you think!)
When the mediator commences the discussion (whether the mediator is you or a student), as soon as a student contributes, draw a tally by their name/initials.
When a student responds, draw a line from the first student to the student responding along with a tally next to their name/initials.
Continue to do this throughout the discussion.
If using a text, draw a + next to students’ names who reference the text.
If a student references another student’s point from earlier in the discussion, draw a * by their name. See example below:
SCAFFOLDS:
Red Light-Green Light: Create space on a wall to add a “green light” and “red light.” Provide a question/statement that requires students to take a side. Students write a response on a sticky note including the reason why they chose that side. Students post their writing opinion on the wall next to the red or green light and read what others have posted.
Prior to writing a response, have students discuss with partner/small groups why one choice is better than another
Primary may draw a picture and verbally explain the why
Would You Rather: Students choose between two topics, write logical reasons why they chose the topic, place students in partners/small groups to discuss, share out.
Four Corners: Turn the debate into four corners: Strongly Agree, Agress, Strongly Disagree, Agree.
Select topics that are low-risk, entertaining in nature and easier for students to draw personal experiences.
Build background with text, partner discussions, and brainstorming activities prior.
A talking piece can be used to help ensure one speaker at a time.
SOURCE MATERIAL FOR PROMPTS:
As experience with implementation of Philosophical Chairs activities in the classroom grows, the awareness of ideas for prompts in everyday lives grows. Although not exhaustive, the following list is a starting place for finding material or inspiration for debate prompts:
Content-specific sources:
Political cartoons
Data sources
Primary/secondary source documents
Math word problems
Literature
Topical/local news stories
State/Supreme Court rulings
Magazine articles
Gallup Poll results
Inspirations from student writing/conversations
College-related issues
Blogs and podcasts
Online video streams
TEDTalks
Museum websites
DBQ Lessons
ChatGPT
EXTENSIONS:
Speed Formation: Students generate a variety of central statements to discuss (3-5 minutes). Teacher collects statements and randomly selects one to read aloud to the class. Students get 30 seconds to organize thoughts. Students choose a side, and move to either side of the room. Give 3-5 minutes to discuss the prompt. Move on to the next prompt.
Teacher Chooses: Number students off and assign each student a side to argue.
Resources: Use a resource for students to site evidence while debating and then Increase the number of resources students will use.
Student Teams: Each team finds an article or issue to analyze, create the prompt, and facilitate the debate.
VIDEO:
Elementary Example
VIDEO:
Middle Level Example
VIDEO:
High School Level Example
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