Education for Judgment

The contributors to Education for Judgement maintain that the elements of great teaching can be identified & consciously practiced. Many of the essays describe the building blocks of successful group leadership: negotiating a "contract" governing the conduct of the group; orchestrating a constructive process of questioning, listening, & responding; encouraging independent thinking; & guiding participants toward useful roles in their interaction with one another. The other chapters in the volume take a broader, more philosophical view of discussion leadership. They cover the ethical considerations of discussion teaching, the special challenges of teaching technical material using this method, & one pioneering effort to introduce a participative mode of medical education. First-person accounts of discussion leaders' experiences provide useful insights into the joys & pitfalls of teaching by the discussion method.