Are they capable of doing so?
Is it reasonable to expect first graders to sit and listen at a classroom meeting for more than 10 minutes? Are they capable of doing so? If you believe that your first graders will never be able to sit for more than 10 minutes, they won’t. Are your inner-city high school students too conditioned by street culture to give respectful silence to peers doing a mock debate? If we believe that, then disre- spect is what we will observe.