Trimbur's article is about the collaborative learning in the classroom. Is consensus good or bad? Consensus, meaning of course, that everyone agrees; which seems like a good thing, doesn't it? "One line of criticism argues that the use of consensus in collaboraive learning is an inherenly dangerous and potentially totalitarian practice that stifles individual voice and creativity, suppresses differences, and enforces conformity." Do you agree or disagree with the above quote? If you agree, can you think of any harmful backlashes of consensus? If you disagree, why?
I would have to agree that consensus is harmful for students to take part in, especially beginning at an early age. I believe the best explanation would be Thomas S. Johnson's belief that, "consensus is just another name for 'group think' and conjures images of 1984." Through my last 3 years of schooling here at JMU I have learned a lot about group think. It is dangerous and poisonous to the learning experience and the individual. If there are ways to avoid group think, they should be taken. I look at my little siblings and I hear them having their own bright ideas about class projects and even inconsequential things around home. They are not stiffled by other minds and shut down everytime they have ideas. If our youth grow up being patted on the back for following the flow or the person with the loudest mouth, then our future and theirs is in trouble.
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