Regarding prejudice

Siegel's argument that reason may trump prejudice to some degree is compelling and important. If such measures were proven effective, they would likely come under fire from the top of the power structure. Prejudice has a long history of justifying negligent and malicious activity on our nation's behalf since our colonization.
While a system that encourages critical thinking at a young age would prove some effectiveness over time, some results in social psychology indicate that reason can be overcome by normative pressures. Solomon Asch found that participants are significantly more likely to pick a blatantly wrong answer if the other participants choose it first ( 76% rate of conformity in at least one of twelve trials).
Since beliefs are often instilled before the rational mind can fully develop, critical thinking will be challenged by the cognitive dissonance that occurs while holding contrary beliefs. While some people will change their beliefs for resolution, others simply create a new belief that rationalizes their behavior. (i e. While it is true I've never met a Muslim, they should be searched more thoroughly, because it's always better safe to be sorry).
The role of critical thinking and the nature of its education in prejudice beliefs needs to be studied further. Experimental classrooms that focus on critical thinking could be assessed with the prejudice belief assessment tools that are available.

Mindset

Carol Dweck wrote a groundbreaking book that studied important differences between the "fixed" and "growth" mindsets. She posits that individuals are likely to develop a mindset that their intellectual traits are either fixed or malleable. The growth mindset is demonstrated produce more success through hard work, wheras fixed mindset indivuals are more likely to fear failure and simply try to "look smart".
This book completely changed the way I think about my own abilities and I think that the core concepts of the theory should be taught in schools, even if more for the educators sake. For instance telling a student "Good job, you're very smart" vs "Good job, you worked hard" are likely to be influential.

Pros and cons of dialogue

The dialogue format affords some interesting opportunities for the writer. It seems that with this type of format, an argument of a broader or more interdisciplinary nature can be examined. The premises at hand can be mentioned in conjunction with other ideas that may not follow naturally in a traditional monograph. 

This aspect has interested me greatly, as I am currently working on a essay that sought to fuse my major points of study and ideology over the past few years. The inherent issue was flow, due to the scope of the synthesis that I was attempting. Perhaps a dialogue would provide a smoother blend of ideas, as the format could even provide a sort of storyline that works in all my major points. The issue I see with this format would be sufficiently citing enough sources for credibility, as many of my claims could easily be interpreted as conjecture without the proper evidence.

Misc. adult skills education

I've noticed that a lot of students leave high school and jump right into the real world without highly essential knowledge regarding rather basic everyday activities. Some of these activities include how to pay taxes, bills, insurance, as well as the related jargon required to fully understand these procedures. Finding a way to pay/apply for college, fundamental home ec., and how to find and lease an apartment are other skills that many students leave high school without.
While one could argue that it is the responsibility of the parents to educate their child about the drier mysteries of the adult world, the practicality of such a responsibility is questionable. The child for one, isn't going to be super motivated to ask mom about how insurance premiums work. In addition, many parents, particularly very young ones, may not have fully acquired all of these skills themselves.
These reasons lead me to believe that a class that offers instruction on some basic needs of adulthood would be a rational addition to the high school curriculum, even if only as an elective.

Hello

Hi everyone, I'm Tyler, I'm a Psych major, Phil minor senior. I play a lot of music too. My focus this semester is educationally oriented, so I figured this class might be a good fit. In particular, comparing teaching and reading styles of eastern and western cultures interests me.