I'm glad I had a specific teacher in HS for English.
He had us do a positional paper over a topic we were passionate about. Topics were first come first serve. We got them approved. And when everyone was done getting topics, he then said "You are now arguing for the OPPOSITE of what you asked for."
He later explained why he did so. Obviously, the dept had paper requirements... But he also wanted us to learn a topic and viewpoints from all the angles, including ones you would normally dismiss. It was also a learning moment of "understand the issue before making opinions, and then form a well thought out decision".
He had us do a positional paper over a topic we were passionate about. Topics were first come first serve. We got them approved. And when everyone was done getting topics, he then said "You are now arguing for the OPPOSITE of what you asked for."
He later explained why he did so. Obviously, the dept had paper requirements... But he also wanted us to learn a topic and viewpoints from all the angles, including ones you would normally dismiss. It was also a learning moment of "understand the issue before making opinions, and then form a well thought out decision".
I've never seen his style before or since.