FISHBOWL

Outer circle: students are not

Inner circle: students interact with
interacting with one another, but
one another using a discussion
are actively participating by taking
protocol provided by the teacher.
notes on what is happening on the
They may know ahead of time that
inner circle, like they are looking
they will be in the inner circle,
into a fishbowl. The teacher may
giving them time to prepare. Or,
assign outer circle students to take
they may not have knowledge of
general notes, note what one
being on the inner circle if the
specific person is arguing, or even
teacher would like it to be more
tally how many times a peer places
spontaneous like a pop quiz.
themselves into the conversation.
Students will see what it feels like
They will later summarize the
to be on the inside of a fishbowl.
information gleaned from the inner
circle.

After the Fishbowl activity has finished, debrief will all students. Ask inner circle students what it felt like to be
on the inside of the fishbowl, having other people analyze and critique them. Ask outer circle members to
discuss what they noticed by being able to take a step back, and actively listen to what was happening in the
discussion. Ask outer circle students to provide inner circle students with constructive criticism. They may also
go into detail about how being in the outer circle makes them more prepared for knowing what to do when
they are in the inner circle.

Teachers have made variations of Fishbowl, including allowing each outer circle member to be able to “freeze”
the inner circle one time and have the opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas. Another variation
includes how many students to put into and on the outside of the fishbowl. For example, The inner circle
works best with a small group of students, say 4-6 students. The outer circle could easily function with double
that, maybe 8-12 students if outer circle students pair up on one inner circle student. However, if a class size is
larger than that, teachers have broken down their class to have two fishbowl activities going at once. Once
both fishbowls have come to an end, the outer circle members would have to explain the thoughts and ideas
of their fishbowl to the members of the other fishbowl. This ensures accountability and understanding for the
outer circle members to ensure active participation.

Teachers choose to use the Fishbowl strategy because it is similar to a Socratic Seminar, but keeps it a bit
more contained by limiting the number of students who could be interacting with one another. This allows the
teacher to really hone in on a select group of students. It also encourages students to work on their listening
skills to be able to interpret and later comment on what their peers were discussing, in which the teacher
could later evaluate the outer circle students.