Teaching students to argue the other side: critical thinking in practice
October 5, 2026 · 15 min read
Warren Smith's classroom method, Greg Lukianoff's case for curiosity toward extreme views and Immordino-Yang's work on checking assumptions and civic discourse all treat engaging an opposing view as a skill that must be taught. It gives teachers a concrete goal beyond avoiding controversy.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Engaging a view you reject is a skill that must be taught and practiced.
- Immordino-Yang's test: can you articulate how the other person's opinion opposes yours?
- Smith: model calm disagreement; students lock in when adults disagree in good faith.
- Smith's promise: never tell students something you know to be untrue.
- Smith: words are the surface; look for the subtext and the story underneath.
- Lukianoff's dodges: whataboutism, strawmanning, hypocrisy projection, dismissing by category.
- Lukianoff: censoring people does not change their opinion; it polarizes groups.
- Lukianoff: curiosity is the cure.
- Immordino-Yang: students learn about whatever their emotions are attached to.
- Immordino-Yang: thinking together requires feeling safe; vigilance blocks perspective-taking.
- Huberman's exercise: divide on a controversial topic, then swap sides.
- Questioning an expert's claim is the skill; dismissing all experts is a dodge.
- Representing a position accurately differs from being made to profess it.
- Know the school's rules before recording students; Smith lost his job.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.