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Socratic Method and Discussion Method

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Socratic Method and Discussion Method

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Trivia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What Is the Socratic Method?

In classrooms, educators often use lectures to help teach new content. However, lectures do
not always allow students to interact directly with the material, as students typically take a
passive role in the learning process during this kind of instruction. Conversely, the Socratic
Method is an educational technique where a teacher poses questions for students to answer,
focusing on the dialogue between the teacher and the student. The idea behind this method is
to continue asking questions until a student finds the correct answer to their academic inquiry.

The goal of using the Socratic Method is to help students develop critical thinking skills and
meaningfully engage with their academic materials. Students are also encouraged to ask
questions with this method, and the teacher can respond to those questions to help students
critically examine their work. This method of teaching uses open-ended questions that ask
students to ponder their ideas about a concept or topic.

This method is named after Socrates, one of the most seminal ancient Greek philosophers in all
of history. In Plato's Apology, we learn that Socrates is a wise man and an eloquent speaker,
though he does not view himself this way. However, after speaking with others, he realizes that
he is wise because he can examine himself, recognize his flaws, and acknowledge that he does
not know everything. The Socratic Method is named after this influential figure because
Socrates wanted students to reach their own conclusions and find answers themselves rather
than relying on their teacher for all their knowledge.

The Socratic Method relies on questions and answers, and it is a conversational method of
education. The goal of the method is to help students learn themselves and, although some
students consider it intimidating because they are responsible for answering a series of
questions, educators use the method as a learning tool, not as a means of humiliation. The
Socratic Method may cause some discomfort, but it is ultimately productive in a learning
environment. Sometimes, a student may not know all the answers, and it is the teacher's goal
to ask questions that lead the student to the correct conclusion. Although the Socratic Method
is most commonly recognized as a teaching style, lawyers, psychologists, and business
professionals also utilize the method in their careers.

Features of the Socratic methods

Socratic inquiry is not “teaching” per se. It does not include PowerPoint driven lectures,
detailed lesson plans or rote memorization. The teacher is neither “the sage on the stage” nor
“the guide on the side.” The students are not passive recipients of knowledge.
The Socratic Method involves a shared dialogue between teacher and students. The teacher
leads by posing thought-provoking questions. Students actively engage by asking questions of
their own. The discussion goes back and forth.

The Socratic Method says Reich, “is better used to demonstrate complexity, difficulty, and
uncertainty than to elicit facts about the world.” The aim of the questioning is to probe the
underlying beliefs upon which each participant’s statements, arguments and assumptions are
built.

The classroom environment is characterized by “productive discomfort,” not intimidation. The


Socratic professor does not have all the answers and is not merely “testing” the students. The
questioning proceeds open-ended with no pre-determined goal.

The focus is not on the participants’ statements but on the value system that underpins their
beliefs, actions, and decisions. For this reason, any successful challenge to this system comes
with high stakes—one might have to examine and change one’s life, but, Socrates is famous for
saying, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

“The Socratic professor,” Reich states, “is not the opponent in an argument, nor someone who
always plays devil’s advocate, saying essentially: ‘If you affirm it, I deny it. If you deny it, I affirm
it.’ This happens sometimes, but not as a matter of pedagogical principle.

The Discussion Method

Conversation is the lifeblood of the Thomas Aquinas College education. In the classroom, no
more than 20 students sit around a table with their peers and with a faculty tutor as a guide,
and together they grapple with the greatest works of Western civilization. There are no
lectures, no didactic discourses, no simple regurgitation of others’ conclusions. Instead, ideas
are proposed, rebutted, and defended, until, through discussion and critical argumentation, the
class discerns the meaning of a given text and, more important, its veracity or error. The truth is
found by way of the conversation.

This is the Discussion Method, also called the Socratic Method after the Ancient Greek
philosopher Socrates, who would engage his students with questions and dialogue. Because the
class is small, the tutor is able to determine each student’s progress, and students have ample
occasion to make their difficulties known. There is a true meeting of the minds.
The Discussion Method demands that students come to class well prepared. Compelling them
to think out their arguments in advance and to answer their peers’ questions and counter-
arguments, it sharpens their powers of reason, analysis, and articulation. It thus provides them
with fundamental skills necessary for success in any discipline or profession.

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