A fantastic post earlier today on Daily Nous on the need for philosophers to learn to listen. I thoroughly agree but would add it’s not just professional philosophers. This is a skill I work on with my students (all non-philosophy majors).
In my Introduction to Philosophy class, I assign three Dialogue Projects during the term. Each over two sections that we’ve just covered. The first one covers ethics and epistemology. (Download the assignment here for details.) Students are required to sit down and talk with another student from the class for 10 minutes. They record the audio of their dialogue. Then each separately writes a report on the dialogue.
The report asks them to spend twice as much on their partner’s views (and the reasons given for them) as it does their own. To do well on the assignment, they have to listen to and report what their partner thinks.
Students are also required to ask follow-up questions. These can’t be scripted ahead of time, since they must be based on what the other person has just said. Asking good questions requires good listening, and it allows you to listen and learn more.
For anyone interested in using or adapting this assignment, I should note that how long students have to talk increases to 15 and then 20 minutes for the next two projects. Additionally, for the first one, I give them a full page of conversational prompts over the material we’ve covered. For the second, however, I give half as many, and they have to write some of their own. For the third, I give them none, and they have to write all the prompts. The students also have in-class exercises to help them learn how to have philosophical dialogues. I’m presenting that part at the upcoming APA-Pacific in San Francisco; come see me if you have questions. Anyone not attending is welcome to email me with questions or for more of the materials I use.
I would really like to know more about they material you use.