Yap Culture: The Good, The Bad, and the Wordy

You sit at an oval table: a notebook, pencil, and book splayed out around you. Your teacher has scribbled your classmates’ names on a piece of paper, and remains silent, leaving discussions to the students. Voices break awkward pauses, filling the room as they comment on powerful quotes or the author’s stylistic choices. Louder than any voice, however, is your teacher’s silently approving nod and the scratch of their pen tracking the conversation on their piece of paper. Each arrow they draw makes your heart beat faster with the knowledge that said arrow does not point to you. As the fifty minutes trickle away, you decide that you need to talk: you need a good Harkness grade. You wedge yourself into the conversation, perhaps starting with “I thought it was interesting that” or “I agree with.” After you finish, you earn your arrow, but at what cost? After all, you know that all you did was yap.

According to the Urban Dictionary, yapping (vg) consists of “speaking without discretion at length to an uninterested audience.” Lawrenceville treasures its emphasis on Harkness learning, that utopic arena for sharing opinions, inspiring ideas, opening minds, and promoting thinking; indeed, I have left many class discussions enriched by my peers’ insightful comments. However, Harkness discussions are also extremely conducive to yapping, an opportunity escalated to a necessity by Harkness grades. The majority of comments made in discussions—including many of my own— contribute little, if any, new information, nor do they embody the Harkness mission of learning from different perspectives and beliefs. Thus, while yapping can secure one a decent Harkness grade, it is a waste of time that might otherwise be spent on thoughtful, engaging Harkness discussions. 

It is important to clarify the nature of yapping here. When students first approach Harkness learning, many go through a period of transition learning how to speak in a discussion. Oftentimes, discovering one’s voice involves making tentative comments that contribute small things to conversations. However, this is done with the intent of challenging oneself, exploring, and growing, and it ultimately helps the individual develop their voice at the Harkness table. This is distinct from yapping, which focuses on achieving a grade rather than developing a voice. Thus, yapping does not make one a “Harkness warrior” or facilitate healthy conversation, but rather merely secures participation points while adding little to discussions.

How can Lawrenceville alleviate this yapping crisis? The very reason for its existence is the Harkness grade. Eliminating discussion-based evaluation, then, would alleviate pressure on students to crudely shove themselves into conversations out of obligation. This shifts the focus away from grades and towards the discussion itself, promoting a genuine and engaged climate and lowering the pressure on students to yap. 

Additionally, students would be able to truly immerse themselves in the discussion without the stress of needing to contribute, giving them time to absorb, reflect, and take away from discussions. While sharing one’s voice at the Harkness table is important, listening and being able to reflect on and learn from the viewpoints of others is an important skill to develop through Harkness as well. Students in current Harkness discussions are often only focused on what they might say next and how they might word it, rather than listening to others’ comments and reacting to them, when Harkness learning aims to foster genuine, natural, and spontaneous conversations. By adding an emphasis on listening to others, students not only move closer to this ideal Harkness model, but they also glean more from each Harkness discussion.