STRUCTURING CONSTRUCTIVE CONTROVERSIES

Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory.

It instigates invention. It shocks us out of sheeplike passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving...

“sine qua non” of reflection and ingenuity.

—John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct: Morals Are Human

Over the past thirty-five years, we have (a) developed a theory of constructive controversy, (b) validated it through a program of research, (c) trained teachers, professors, administrators, managers, and executives throughout North America and numerous other countries to field-test and implement the constructive con­troversy procedure, and (d) developed a series of curriculum units, academic lessons, and training exercises structured for controversies. There are two formats, one for decision-making situations and one for academic learning. A more detailed description of conducting constructive controversies may be found in D. W. Johnson and R. Johnson (1995) and D. W. Johnson and F. Johnson (2006).