by Danny Mucinskas
The Good Project’s curricular resources, including our lesson plans and activities in our online database, focus in large part on discussions of dilemmas.
If you have never led a dilemma discussion before, we recognize that it may be daunting, as it is not always easy to open up a conversation with a room full of students that is not about a traditional disciplinary topic. As an educator, you might wonder how students will react to discussing a specific story, particularly if it deals with a sensitive topic or particularly thorny issue. You might also wonder whether students will find meaning in the activity, and how to keep the conversation “on track” by focusing on what is most salient. Here, our team provides further context about why we use dilemmas as a teaching tool; how you and your students might read dilemmas; and how a productive dilemma discussion in a classroom might unfold.
The Ideas Behind Dilemmas
Our dilemmas are narratives, each of which tells the story of an individual who struggles to make a difficult decision under complex circumstances. All of the dilemmas included in our materials are inspired by real-life cases, and they can be used to as a basis for reflection and conversation about how to do “good work.” As we define “good work,” it is excellent, engaging, and ethical. Oftentimes, the dilemma will involve someone who is torn between these three aspects of our framework of good work. For example, the narrative might describe someone who feels that performing their job responsibilities well would mean a conflict with their moral values, and therefore sacrificing ethics for the sake of excellence (e.g., a lawyer who is forced to defend someone who they believe is guilty of an abhorrent crime).
You can think of dilemma discussions as part of the tradition of the “case-study” method. Case studies are often used as a component of the curricula of professional schools, such as medical, business, or education schools. Such case studies provide students with authentic, in-depth problems of practice that they can discuss and analyze. As a result, they can develop insights that will be applicable in practice to their future careers. Dilemmas have been used as pedagogical tools in a variety of classroom environments, from elementary through graduate school. Additionally, dilemmas offer a powerful method of analyzing students’ ethical reasoning skills, a practice that traces back decades to the work of developmental psychologists like Carol Gilligan, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Jean Piaget.
Like the case studies of professional schools, the dilemmas compiled by The Good Project are intended for students to reflect upon and ideally discuss together, to analyze, and to extrapolate lessons. Our hope is that students will take these lessons with them as they inevitably encounter dilemmas in the world, in their schools and in their future workplaces.
Rather than adhere to any one domain or area of practice, our dilemmas cover a span of professional and academic settings. We chose to include a variety of environments in our narratives so that students can see what “good work” looks like no matter their life course. Additionally and ideally, students will develop skills that are applicable in any setting, including critical thinking, ethical reasoning, perspective-taking, and the ability to reflect.
Through dilemmas, students will put themselves in the shoes of others, gaining exposure to authentic problems that have arisen for individuals in real workplaces or schools. By engaging with the complexity of the narratives, students will become better prepared to make well-reasoned decisions. They will develop insights related to concepts like personal values, responsibility, and ethical frameworks. Using these concepts to pull apart what makes a dilemma complicated and vexing, students will be able to similarly confront real dilemmas that they are likely to encounter in their own lives and navigate them successfully to do “good work.”
How to Read a Dilemma
When looking at a dilemma for the first time, we recommend that you and your students prepare as follows. This process should help you to get the most out of the narrative and be ready to have a productive discussion together as a group.
1. Read the short version of the dilemma. Each dilemma begins with a 1-2 paragraph summary that covers the main elements of the narrative. (If time is short with your students, or you would like students to imagine details to add to a dilemma, you may want to use the short version only as a basis for discussion.)
2. Read the full version of the dilemma. The full dilemma will contain more information about the person at its center, what precipitated the situation, and which factors may have influenced decision-making. As you read, make sure to highlight or write down information that is key to understanding the person and the circumstances that are described.
3. Look over your notes and scan through the text of the dilemma again. Now that you have an understanding of what happens in the case, it will be useful to ask yourself questions such as:
Why is this situation a dilemma for the person described?
What values are at stake?
Are conflicting responsibilities present, and if so, what are they?
What roles and identities does the person in the dilemma hold? How might these various roles and identities conflict? Would people who hold different roles handle the situation differently?
Do excellence, engagement, and ethics play a role in the story? If so, how? If not, why not?
What advice would you give the person in the dilemma?
What other situations does the dilemma remind you of, perhaps in your own life?
It may be useful to create a mind map or other visual organizer of some sort as you analyze the dilemma. Or you could simply write down your thoughts under headings so you don’t forget your insights as you answer some of these questions. Feel free to use whatever aid to thinking and problem-solving works well for you.
4. Finally, consider your opinions about the conclusion of the dilemma. What do you think the person should do (or should have done), and why? Prepare to discuss or write about your opinions using evidence from the text or your own ideas about what might be missing.
How to Have a Dilemma Discussion
Dilemmas can be a source of individual reflection, but they are likely to be most fruitful as teaching tools in group settings. Classroom or small group discussions are ideal formats for students to grapple with dilemmas and to surface multiple viewpoints. Through discussion, your students will learn directly from their peers and be exposed to perspectives that perhaps they had not previously considered. They will practice sharing their opinions and resolving conflicts, and they will become more attuned to doing good work in practice.
We make a few recommendations for successful dilemma discussions below.
Allow for debate. Students will (hopefully) have divergent views from one another, and it may lead to disagreements. Seek to uncover the source of differing opinions. Why does one student believe one course of action is appropriate in a dilemma, while another student prefers another course of action? Set ground rules for debate, such as those provided by the Better Arguments Project (e.g., “take winning off the table”) in co-designed workbooks available here.
Ask open-ended questions. There may be lulls in the conversation, or students may not be talkative at first. Prompt them to contribute by asking questions that invite them to take part in the discussion.
Probe for new ideas. It may seem like students are sharing only a few points, or the dialogue may be moving in circles. Try to expand the conversation by raising new points for students to consider.
Encourage participation. It’s important that students be able to advocate for their views and that they feel the classroom is a safe space to do so. Students should also feel free to contribute examples from their own lives that may relate to the dilemma at hand. You may also wish to use strategies like picking names out of a bowl so students know they may be called upon, dependent upon your class norms and comfort level of students speaking up.
Try different formats. It may be helpful for students to discuss first in small groups, to be assigned a position to advocate for in a debate, or to role-play as a particular stakeholder in the dilemma.
Maintain a climate of safety and respect. Students should make space for each other’s contributions and approach the conversation with kindness and empathy.
Importantly, an overall principle to keep in mind throughout the discussion is that there is no right or wrong answer to our dilemmas, even though there may well be better or worse solutions that merit discussion. Instead, a dilemma discussion is about the process of students asking one another questions, listening to perspectives, and understanding more deeply the circumstances that led to the dilemma to begin with, rather than arriving at any ultimate correct interpretation.
We hope you and your students enjoy working with our dilemmas! For a set of resources regarding structuring dilemma discussions in practice, including setting norms, developing trust, and how to deal with controversy, please see this post for more information.