Returning the Ownership: Socratic Seminar in the Secondary Classroom

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Returning the OwnershipSocratic Seminar in the
Secondary Classroom

• 15 February 2001
• Sara B. Kajder
• James H. Blake High School

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History of the Socratic Seminar

• Know thyself.
• The acknowledgment of I dont know is the
  starting point for all discovery and learning.
• Life is a pursuit of goodness, beauty, and an
  explanation of human excellence.

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In Platos Laches, Nicias explains

• You seem to me not aware that whoever comes
  nearest to Socrates and enters into conversation
  with him in the course of argument - not stopping
  until he is led into giving an account of
  himself, of how he spends his day and of the kind
  of life he has lived in the past and once he has
  been entangled in that, Socrates will not let him
  go until he has thoroughly and properly put all
  his ways to the test.

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So, how does it fit in?

• Cooperative Learning
• Thinking Strategies
• Metacognition
• Brain-Based Learning
• Constructivism

• Socratic Seminar stands apart in that it is an
  outgrowth of cultural tradition rather than a
  technique designed from research evidence or
  pedagogical theory.

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Discussion Vs. Seminar

• Class in rows. Teacher is apart and often
  higher.
• 97 teacher talk
• Average student response time is 8-12 seconds.
• Teacher affirmation of correctness is expected.

• Students and teacher are in a circle.
• 97 student talk
• Average student response time is 2-3 seconds.
• Affirming feedback from teacher is taboo.

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Discussion Vs. Seminar

• Rightness is paramount.
• Students listen to the teacher who has the
  answer.
• Teacher has ownership for the flow.

• Thinking, supported with evidence, is paramount.
• Students listen primarily to peers.
• Students have ownership for the flow.

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How does seminar impact student learning?

• Questioning of sophisticated text
• Exercising inferential and interpretive thinking
  skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Application of ideas to real life
• Understanding of the learning process as a matter
  of constructing ones own meaning.

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As Eudora Welty writes inOne Writers Beginnings
. . .

• When students find their voice, they gain
  confidence as they direct the discussion, listen
  to their peers, and hear their own intelligent
  thoughts. They find a voice.

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What students need going in

• Textual understanding
• Speaking Skills
• Listening Skills
• Critical Thinking
• Openness to Criticism

• Responsibility
• Initiative
• Teamwork
• Politeness
• Honesty/Integrity
• Openness to Learning

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5 Roles of the Seminar Leader

• Implicitly justify the activity
• Socratic questioner
• provide summary, synthesis, clarification
• process coach
• genuine participant

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Alignment with National Standards

• ENGLISH Students apply a wide range of
  strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate and
  appreciate texts. They draw on their prior
  experience, their interactions with others, their
  knowledge of other texts, and their understanding
  of textual features.
• MATH Mathematics instruction should use
  communication to foster understanding so that all
  students organize and consolidate their thinking,
  express mathematical ideas coherently and clearly
  to peers, extend their knowledge by considering
  the thinking and strategies of others, and use
  the language of mathematics as a precise means of
  mathematical expression.
• SCIENCE Formulate and revise scientific
  explanations and models using logic and evidence.
  Recognize and analyze alternative explanations
  and models. Communicate and defend a scientific
  argument.

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Options in Terms of Use

• Use seminar as a critical thinking supplement to
  develop a base. (I.e., 3 or 4 days of
  discussion of preliminary concepts. Then,
  intensive conventional study to build on the
  deep base. -- Science class example with
  Newtons Laws.)
• Use seminar for concept development. (I.e., 3 or
  4 days of seminar to develop a concept that has
  already been established -- Social Studies Class,
  English class)
• Use seminar for development of thinking and
  language skills (I.e., most
  classes take on this form with supplementary
  lessons from teacher.)