I found an article

Dangerous Discussions: Voice and Power in My Classroom

It made me think about how we manage discussions in my classroom. I have difficulty getting students to engage. Part of which I put down to their unfamiliarity with the content but I still have to develop my discussion management skills to enable the shy and quiet to have their say, and to not have the loud/confident students dominate.

My classes have a different mix of ethnicity to the one in the article. Some have minority groups, as defined by society, are  in the majority in their class. That would give a different air to the discussion. Also the difference in subject matter will have an effect. Science is a difficult subject for many, and they do not often feel as informed as they might in a discussion on social issues that that live, as in the article.

I am inspired to try some of the suggestions in this article with my classes.