To use a fishbowl discussion format in your class, follow these steps:

1. Devise three questions for discussion. In a class on ecology, for example, the questions might be: How is the environment being endangered? What steps can the government and private industry take to deal with the problem? What can we do personally? Ideally, the questions would be interrelated, but that is not required.  Order the questions for discussion. 

2. Set up chairs in two concentric circles. Have students count off by 1, 2, and 3.  Ask group 1 members to sit in the discussion-circle seats and groups 2 and 3 to sit in the outer-circle seats.

3. Pose your first question. Allow up to 10 minutes for discussion. Invite one student to facilitate or act as the facilitator yourself.

4. Next, invite group 2 to sit in the inner circle, replacing group 1 who now sits in the outer circle.  Ask group 2 if they would like to comment briefly about the first discussion, then ask the second question.

5. Follow the same procedure with group 3.

6. When all three questions have been discussed, reconvene the class as one discussion group.  Ask them for their reflections about the entire discussion.    

If you can’t use circles of chairs, have a rotating panel discussion instead. One-third of the class becomes a panel for each question. Panelists can sit in front of the classroom facing the rest of the class.