Students DO Know How to Argue

The biggest issue I have with Kastely is that on some level he seems to assume that students don't know what argument is when they enter the academy. His article begins with a rather negative understanding of student familiarity with argument, assuming that most students view "argument" as a series of attacks between arguers. However, this hasn't been my experience, especially here at Mizzou. Whenever we have heated discussions in my class, my students seem to recognize that disagreement doesn't have to equate to a fight. Rather, disagreement is something that can be hashed out in a meaningful way, and the object isn't necessarily to change another person's mind. When my students argue, they seem well-aware of the academic connotations of the word and concept. For the most part, they recognize argument as a productive sharing of knowledge, not a system for verbal beat-down. So, my students aren't heathens after all.