Forty Topic Cards for discussion, critical thinking and stronger writing (and some spare cards so you can add your own).

History is wrong.
Gaming is social.

There isn't a correct answer to these statements. That’s not the point.

Someone might agree. Someone else disagrees. Someone says, "It depends what you mean by..." Someone introduces an example nobody else had considered.

That's what the cards are designed to provoke.

They designed to move poeple from, ‘I disagree,’ through ‘I disagree because,’ to ‘I disagree in this situation, but if I look at it from another perspective…’

When I was teaching, there was one issue I struggled with more than almost anything else. It wasn't that students had stopped having opinions. Quite the opposite. It was how many of them seemed to struggle to go beyond the opinion itself. They found it incredibly difficult to unpack the language in a statement, to consider another perspective, to look for evidence, or to change their mind when someone offered a better argument.

Even before I left teaching, I found myself wondering whether we were quietly losing the habit of critical thinking as a skill in its own right.

These cards are designed to help.

They’re not Just for Schools, Though!

Since I created these cards, I’ve been surprised to hear about the conversations they've sparked in completely unexpected places: around dinner tables, over coffee, at book clubs, on long car journeys and, more than once, over a glass of wine with friends.

When I think about it, it makes perfect sense.

When was the last time you sat with people whose company you enjoy and simply explored an idea together? Not because anyone needed to be persuaded or because there was a right answer to arrive at, but simply because the conversation itself was interesting.

I love that the cards have found lives of their own. Teachers use them in classrooms, families pull them out after dinner, book clubs use them when they've finished discussing the novel, and friends tell me they've become a favourite way to start conversations that quickly move beyond the usual small talk. I've even heard of people keeping them on the coffee table for visitors, which still makes me smile.

The cards encourage writers to:

question wording • identify assumptions • consider perspectives • develop examples • encounter counterarguments • qualify claims

Because good writing begins with good thinking.

How do they Work?

The idea is wonderfully simple.

There are forty discussion topics, but they're not political with a capital P. They're not asking students to argue Labour versus National or left versus right.

Instead, they're political with a small p.

They're the kinds of questions that thoughtful people can genuinely disagree about.

Questions that don't have one correct answer, that reward curiosity and lateral thinking.

Questions that encourage explanation, challenges and expanded thinking.

I deliberately created two levels. The pale grey cards are accessible enough that students can respond using their own experience. A statement such as Children need privacy invites every student into the conversation. They don't need specialist knowledge. They simply need to think. The darker grey cards can certainly be discussed in the same way, but they also reward deeper investigation.

Take History is wrong.

It's only three words, but every one of them needs unpacking.

What do we mean by history? The events themselves? The way they've been recorded? The stories we've chosen to preserve? The perspectives we've ignored?

And what does wrong mean? Factually inaccurate? Morally wrong? Incomplete? Biased?

Before you can argue the statement, they have to understand the language inside it.

Ways to Use Them

Before writing
Generate ideas, arguments, examples and counterarguments.

In the classroom
Discussion, persuasive/discursive writing, critical thinking etc.

In professional learning/groups
Explore assumptions and different perspectives.

Around the table
Friends, family, book clubs and other social group

What's included?

Topic Cards

40 Topic Cards + blank cards for creating your own.

$22 + tax.