"The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue"

When reading "The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue" it helped me see the different ways of approaching teaching and how teachers use different techniques to teach children how to speak formally. The problems that Tannen found in educational settings, such as pre-school to college education, was that schools seem to mainly appeal to men because in class rooms it is a more disagree and challenging different opinions. Although, Tannen does say that this can be beneficial for some students who thrive in this type of environment, this is what debate class or club is for. Women in these classes don't strive or make an effort in these classes because they do not care or just because it's not in their nature to argue. Men have been taught to be aggressive since birth and women have been taught to sit back and observe to not get too involved. Therefore, higher education is more appealing for men and in order to change this Tannen says that teachers need to approach all students in different ways. Also, right away Tannen wrote that most students use "cop-outs" in conversation or discussions just to prove a point and most students will use anything in an argument just to make an argument. Those students aren't using the right information to debate the right points. Tannen explains and uses examples like students show and tell to show how at a young age we are trained to talk and debate, if that is what you would call it, in a formal manner. Teachers who challenge students in an argumentative setting can have some students who adapt and learn the academic debate.