In part 1 of this video, teachers, students, and district leaders reflect on ways to ensure civic discussion and deliberation is student-centered. In part 2, students also reflect, discuss, and communicate what they have learned about a complex issue they researched through small group and large group collaborative discussions.

Leading researchers, district leaders, teachers, and students discuss the importance of high quality civic discussions. Civic discussion and deliberation leads to improved communication, critical thinking skills, civic knowledge, and a higher chance of future civic engagement.

In this video, students deliberate suffrage at age 16 through an approach called Structured Academic Controversy. Students read and analyze text, develop respectful group discussion skills, practice building consensus, and write informal policy statements.