We need to agree on at least the facts

I was watching a political news show and the host was talking to the guest, and it seemed that they could not even agree on the facts. As a teacher, I will tell my students that you need to agree on the facts, but you can disagree on the interpretation of the facts. This is where the fun begins. Here’s an example: I will make up a statistic that unemployment was at 8% in June of 2012, but dropped to 3 % on June of 2013. Now we can look at the facts and interpret or explain the significance. Students can create more questions with their discussions which create even more questions. It is not about determining who is right or wrong, but rather looking at an issue and allowing each person to express opinions and maybe, just maybe, we can gain some insights and march towards possible solutions.