Authentic discussion is rare?

Obviously I'm no expert in this field, but all throughout high school my English teacher's always used discussion as a main tool for understanding class material. I'm not saying that they're wrong or that I'm right, but I honestly don't think they visited enough schools to make such a blanket statement. I do admit that I did not experience this kind of classroom environment when I was in junior high, but I personally don't believe that authentic discussion is as rare as stated in Chapter one. Other than that slight annoyance, I really had no other objections to the reading.
Authentic discussion, while possibly not quite as rare as some may think, is difficult for sure. As explained on page 3 of the text, classroom discussion has to be structured by the educator in such a way that students will have multiple and differing points of view to discuss rather than close ended questions which lead to no further understanding of the text. However, also discussed on this page is the main problem with leading these kinds of discussions. You can always count on student involvement in discussion to be shaky without some sort of a push or guideline. As discussed in chapters 1 and 11, some solutions to this are pre-reading material to get the students thinking about important themes ahead of time, and also small groups so that kids who are less inclined to speak to the whole class can open up and be heard.
I agree whole hearted that discussion should be used as a learning tool in the classroom and found the examples and methods discussed to be quite insightful. I especially found chapter eleven interesting. Not only can discussion help with the understanding of reading material, but it can also be a useful tool in helping students talk about important issues and themes within their worlds. This type of learning promotes equality and understanding in the classroom and the world outside the classroom as well. Authentic discussion is a tough teaching tool to master, but is possibly the most important thing a teacher can use.