The Socratic Seminar is named after the Greek philosopher Socrates (470 BC - 399 BC). He is considered the father of Western thought. The use of the Socratic Seminar dates back to his era and is still used in classrooms today. The seminar consists of four basic elements: 1. the text, 2. the questions raised, 3. the seminar leader, and 4. the seminar participants. To hold a valuable seminar, a rich text must be chosen and read first. This text should contain meaningful ideas, values, or issues that will resonate with the participants. A good text will raise questions on its own. Next, the seminar will open with a question. This question has no defined right answer, but will instead inspire the participants to dig back into the text. The question can be asked by the leader of the seminar or the participants themselves. The leader will typically be the teacher and the participants will be the students. Once ready for discussion, the participants can be seated in numerous ways. Usually there will be an "inner circle" that engages in conversation and an "outer circle" that observes and takes notes. Often, the roles will reverse during the seminar so each participant can be engaged with both aspects. The main goal is to support a deep exploration of the text through respectful dialogue between the participants. This type of discussion promotes critical thinking and reasoning. This method should not be confused with a debate. Debates follow different guidelines and have different expectations.
Benefits of Using the Socratic Seminar:
|
Limitations of Using the Socratic Seminar:
|