Understanding Socrates: The Socratic Method and Educational Foundations of Instructional Conversations

1. Socrates, the Socratic Method and the Historical/Educational Foundations of Instructional Conversations By: Scott Fenwick

2. Who was Socrates? What is his Legacy? • An enigmatic classical Greek philosopher (469 B.C. – 399 B.C.) • The founder of modern Western Philosophy • His logic helped give birth to the Scientific Method • A champion of oral modes of communication • Influential students: Plato (founded the Academy) • Aristotle (founded the Lyceum) • A literary figure, reliable information about him comes from Plato’s writings rather than traditional history • A social and moral critic, his attempts to improve Athenians’ sense of justice may have led to his death

3. What is the Socratic Method? • Arguably the most important contribution to Western thought • A type of pedagogy that seeks to encourage fundamental insight into issues and ideas via questioning • Designed to encourage self-examination: “The highest form of human excellence is to question oneself and others” • Argument, cross-examining, testing, scrutinizing • “Life without examination [dialogue] is not worth living.” • Two styles: Classic (two-way freestyle) & Modern (constructive) • the Classic style is more true to Socrates himself • the Modern style may be Plato improving upon Socrates

4. How is the Socratic Method Implemented? • Teacher’s temperament is vital: a respectful, non-confrontational “devil’s advocate” • Questioning process challenges assumptions and moves students toward greater specificity • Proposition of hypothetical situations • Students come to knowledge in their own through carefully worded questions that spur a particular train of thought • For the modern method to work, students are expected to be prepared for class in advance • Pedagogically, the modern method encourages students to reason critically rather than appeal to authority

5. How is the Socratic Method Implemented?- Mechanics for Teachers • *Start with a “big” conclusion or question and work backwards • Teacher and students agree on the topic of instruction • Students agree to attempt to answer teacher’s questions • Teacher and students are willing to accept any correctly reasoned answer – the reasoning process is more important than facts or beliefs • Teacher’s questions expose errors in students’ reasoning or beliefs, then formulate questions that the students cannot answer except by a correct reasoning process. NOTE: the teacher has prior knowledge about classical errors in reasoning. • When the teacher makes an error of logic or fact, it is acceptable for a student to draw attention to the error. NOTE: this must be made explicit!

6. How is the Socratic Method Implemented? - - A dramatic interpretation • Plato’s Slave of Meno: An Example of the Modern Socratic Method • A person is led to knowledge through inductive questioning • The knowledge gained is anticipated by the questioner • “Baby Steps” • Constructivist • * Think about these four elements and see if you can identify them during the skit.

7. Why is the Socratic Method Important to Teachers? • We teachers are descendents of Socrates and his students • Historically and Philosophically, the Socratic Method constitutes the foundation of what we know to be Instructional Conversations • Facilitates exploration of issues and ideas while developing and elevating students’ critical thinking skills • Help our students to feel confident about questioning anything – including their own ideas and beliefs • If we as teachers can place our students in a situation where they are questioned in a way that is friendly, respectful and useful, we will empower them to experience the value of good questions

8. Sources: • www.socraticmethod.net • Google image search • Wikipedia pages: Socrates, Socratic Method • All information used is properly cited