The Truth Beyond the Conflict

Having grown up under the loving care of parents who incorporated religious beliefs into our upbringing, contention was just simply not allowed, nor did I allow it in my children as I raised them. As I read Deborah Tannen's article, The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue (a lengthy title), I initially felt to challenge her pursuit of debate. As I read on I realized, "Ah ha, I've fallen right into the very premise of her notion. It is easy to argue and disagree with another's point of view."

I particularly liked the sections where she discussed the variety of teaching and it's effectiveness or lack there of. It made me want to go out and sit in classrooms and just observe to witness this scale for myself. Very intriguing.

Ms Tannen concluded with the supposition that truth should be and the root of our contrary nature, and that we should look at the whole picture rather than the this-vs-that attitude of most debate oriented discussion. It reminded me of the picture of Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast, that Ms Sutton used recently in one of her power points..."You're either with us or you're against us." What about those of us who want to know the rest of the story before we take a stand, either with or against or in another line altogether. Looking for more truth than lies at the surface is a much better motive than just proving someone is wrong.

All in all, I enjoyed Ms Tannen's remarks and found her style of writing easy to follow. She flowed easily from one point to another and the information was assimilated without too much conflict. I did have to look up a few of her vocabulary words, but I like that.

Did you check out the Doonesbury at the end of the article? I liked.