Discussion is key to learning.

In a screen-bound world, face-to-face conversation is hard.

But it’s important—and teachable.

We help teach it.

OUR CORE BELIEF

Discussion skills are teachable — it’s time to get tactical about teaching them.

Our signature program, R.E.A.L.® Discussion, breaks the art of discussion into teachable, assessable skills for a generation of students who would rather text than talk.

Today’s kids struggle with the basics: listening deeply, engaging different viewpoints, expressing themselves, reading non-verbal cues. These are foundational skills for academics — as well as friendship, citizenship, and leadership. This deficit is not “just a covid thing.” It’s a trend researchers have documented for a decade: a predictable opportunity cost of time spent on screen. It’s not about to get better.

Today’s teachers are also under pressure: how can the teach the social skills screen-bound kids seem to lack — without sacrificing content? In our polarized world, how can they ensure balanced perspectives in conversations? And, amidst AI, what does it look like to emphasize uniquely human skills?

At R.E.A.L.®, we design the discussion skills strategies schools (and youth-facing
orgs) need in today’s world.
We partner with leaders to create custom
programs that align to your mission, language, culture, and strategic
priorities.

That said, all R.E.A.L.® Discussion programs feature three things:

  • Teaching Discussion Skills (Not Content): we equip teachers with a common language and research-backed methods for teaching students how to communicate, not what to say.
  • Measuring Impact: we measure students’ discussion skills, belonging, and sense of purpose through the R.E.A.L.® Portfolio-Survey-Dashboard system.
  • Celebrating Growth for Students — and Adults: Our training delights and challenges teachers as pedagogical pioneers and our parent-facing programs built trust, alignment and tools.

R.E.A.L.® Discussion is one of the most compelling and actionable ways any school can train our youth to communicate effectively – and respectfully – across differences.
Dr. Margarita Curtis
Former Head of School, Deerfield Academy (MA)
Partner, Strategic School Leadership
Build Your Discussion Skills Strategy Today

The R.E.A.L.® approach has been featured by:

Case Studies

Real Schools, Real Impact

Group of students with teacher

Our Story

It all started during second period. Yet another discussion fell flat – the same kids spoke up, sat back, eye-rolled, panicked – and Humanities teacher Liza Garonzik realized that the Gen-Z students in her class lacked the in-person communication skills they needed to talk and trust each other. 

Liza knew that discussion skills are critical for learning and life – and wanted her students to thrive even as they grew up in a screen-bound, cancel-culture world. So she spent a decade working with experts, teachers, and Gen-Z students to develop R.E.A.L.®: the first research-backed method for explicitly teaching face-to-face discussion skills. 

Today, R.E.A.L.® has several programs for teaching, measuring and celebrating discussion skills in grades 2-10. R.E.A.L.® is used by thousands of students, hundreds of teachers, and dozens of teams across diverse schools and youth-facing organizations. The results speak for themselves.

Our Story

It all started during second period. Yet another discussion fell flat – the same kids spoke up, sat back, eye-rolled, panicked – and Humanities teacher Liza Garonzik realized that the Gen-Z students in her class lacked the in-person communication skills they needed to talk and trust each other. 

Group of students with teacher

Liza knew that discussion skills are critical for learning and life – and wanted her students to thrive even as they grew up in a screen-bound, cancel-culture world. So she spent a decade working with experts, teachers, and Gen-Z students to develop R.E.A.L.®: the first research-backed method for explicitly teaching and equitably assessing in-person discussion skills. 

Today, R.E.A.L.® has several programs for teaching discussion skills and ultimately building Conversation Culture, used by thousands of students, hundreds of teachers, and dozens of teams across diverse schools and youth-facing organizations. The results speak for themselves. 

Our School Partners

PROGRAM PREVIEW

R.E.A.L.® is a method for breaking the deeply human art of great discussion into teachable, assessable, transferable skills for students who would rather text than talk. R.E.A.L.® has programs for Gr. 2-10.


98%

of teachers would recommend R.E.A.L.® to a colleague


96%

of students see R.E.A.L. skills as useful beyond the classroom


98%

of students report more confidence in speaking up in discussion


96%

of students listen more actively to their peers


94%

of students show a growth mindset towards discussion


5

The top five words teachers use to describe R.E.A.L. PD :
Practical, Innovative, Fun/Funny, Motivating, Helpful

Stories from R.E.A.L.® teachers

“Breaking the mystery of discussion into teachable, learnable skills”

Patrick, Middle School Humanities

“Democratizing the classroom in a beautiful way”

Pam, Upper School History

“Game-changer for communication and community in my class”

Linda, Upper School History

“I know my students – and they know each other – so much better”

Kay & Liz, Upper School Religion

Next steps

Ready to build a Discussion Skills Strategy?