Socratic Seminar Model

By Annie Robertson ,

The Socratic seminar model is a strategy where the instructor poses an open-ended
question for discussion that does not have a correct resolution. The idea comes from the Greek
philosopher, Plato, who wrote a dialogue where a question was posed and the Greek philosopher
Socrates suggested that all we know is learned by the process of inquiry and discussion (Estes,
Mintz, & Gunter, 2011).

The purpose of the seminar is to stimulate student thinking and encourage a community
of thinkers. The ultimate goal is to help students learn to think for themselves. It is important to
note that the instructor does not just feed students the information but allows the students to
reflect and discuss their views of a particular text or issue in order to gain a better understanding
of that text or issue.

RESPECT THE LEARNING OF A L L PARTICIPANTS BY FOLLOWING THESE

RULES:
• Be patient with the ideas of the other participants
• Ask for clarification if there is a comment or idea you don't understand
• Allow the conversation to move forward
• Address comments to the all or most of the other participants
• Monitor how much you are contributing... not too much... not too little

HOW TO CONDUCT A SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR:

1) Before class, arrange desks in a circle or square so everyone is facing each other.
Also have a list of discussion questions ready.. .both higher and lower level
thinking questions. It is a good idea to have 1 broad question and 6-8 focus
questions.

2) Chose a text that is related to your unit. This can be written, audio, or visual.
Make sure every participant has a copy of the text. Encourage them to annotate,
highlight text or write questions about the text. You may choose to have students
complete an entry ticket before joining the discussion. This would be a good
place to pose the broad question.

3) Remind students of discussion etiquette: wait until the previous person has
finished their thought, wait to be acknowledged, be open to ideas, try not to pass
judgment, don't allow yourself to get defensive, and accept others viewpoints as
valid.
 4) Pose the focus questions to the group. Always allow enough time for students to
think about the questions before allowing them to give a response. Be sure to get
a variety of responses before moving on to another question. As a facilitator of
the discussion, try not to inflict your beliefs on the rest of the group. Ask for
evidence from the text to support the student's stand. It is not important to come
to a conclusion on the issue.

5) Review and summarize the discussion. Students need a chance to process what
they heard or observed. Generalizations about the themes discussed should be
identified so students can continue to process the information

6) Evaluate student and instructor performance through the use of rubrics or ,

checklists that are explained to students prior to the seminar.

How can this be adapted to my classroom?

Elementary Secondary

» use stories or nursery rhymes to use picture books or other

discuss themes such as literature to identify and
community, respect, or the discuss themes important
importance of rules to our culture or history
(slavery, racism, etc)
» discuss science or math concepts
(if discussing math, make sure it discuss controversial
is a concept or problem with issues that arise in your
more than one way to arrive at content area
the answer) (immigration,
prescription drug
regulation, cloning, etc.)
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References

Copeland, M. (2005). Socratic circles: Fostering critical and creative thinking in middle and high school.
Steinhouse.

Estes, T., Mintz, S., & Gunter, M. (2011). Instruction: A models approach (6* ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Huckabee, M. (2008, September). Republican National Convention Speech. Speech presented at

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. /-^

Verification and additional information found at http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp

On t h e f i r s t d a y o f school in 2 0 0 5 , M a r t h a C o t h r e n , a
t e a c h e r a t t h e Joe T. Robinson H i g h School in L i t t l e Rock,
w a s d e t e r m i n e d t h a t her s t u d e n t s w o u l d n o t t a k e t h e i r
e d u c a t i o n or t h e i r p r i v i l e g e s as A m e r i c a n f o r g r a n t e d . A n d
w i t h t h e principal of h e r school's p e r m i s s i o n , s h e r e m o v e d
all t h e d e s k s f r o m h e r c l a s s r o o m o n t h a t f i r s t d a y o f school
in 2 0 0 5 . , ^ .. ^ . ,,3,,

Now, t h e s t u d e n t s w a l k e d i n t o a n e m p t y c l a s s r o o m a n d t h e y
said, "Ms. C o t h r e n , w h e r e ' s o u r d e s k ? " She s a i d , "You g e t a
desk in m y c l a s s r o o m w h e n y o u t e l l m e h o w y o u e a r n i t . "
Well, s o m e of t h e m s a i d , " M a k i n g g o o d g r a d e s . " She s a i d ,
"Well, y o u o u g h t t o m a k e g o o d g r a d e s in m y class, b u t t h a t
w o n ' t e a r n y o u a desk." A n o t h e r s t u d e n t s a i d , " I g u e s s w e
g e t a desk w h e n w e b e h a v e . " M a r t h a s a i d , "You w i l l b e h a v e
in m y c l a s s r o o m . " B u t t h a t w o n ' t g e t y o u a d e s k e i t h e r . No
one in f i r s t p e r i o d g u e s s e d r i g h t . S a m e f o r s e c o n d p e r i o d .
By l u n c h , t h e buzz w a s all o v e r t h e c a m p u s . Ms. C o t h r e n
had f l i p p e d o u t , w o u l d n ' t let her s t u d e n t s h a v e a desk.

Kids s t a r t e d using t h e i r cell p h o n e s . T h e y called t h e i r

p a r e n t s . A n d by e a r l y a f t e r n o o n , all f o u r o f t h e local
n e t w o r k TV a f f i l i a t e s had c a m e r a c r e w s o u t a t t h e school t o
report on this teacher w h o w o u l d n ' t let her students have a
desk unless t h e y c o u l d t e l l h e r h o w t o e a r n i t . By t h e f i n a l
p e r i o d , no one had g u e s s e d c o r r e c t l y , so t h e s t u d e n t s f i l e d
in. Martha s a i d , "Well, I d i d n ' t t h i n k y o u w o u l d f i g u r e i t o u t ,
so I ' m g o i n g t o t e l l y o u . "

A n d w i t h t h a t , she w e n t t o t h e d o o r of h e r c l a s s r o o m a n d
m o t i o n e d , a n d in w a l k e d o v e r 2 0 v e t e r a n s , s o m e o f t h e m
still w e a r i n g t h e u n i f o r m s f r o m d a y s g o n e by, e v e r y o n e o f
t h e m c a r r y i n g a school desk. A n d as t h e y c a r e f u l l y a n d
q u i e t l y a r r a n g e d t h o s e d e s k s in n e a t r o w s , M a r t h a s a i d ,
"You d o n ' t h a v e t o e a r n y o u r desk, because t h e s e g u y s ,
they already did."
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These - T h e s e b r a v e v e t e r a n s h a d g o n e h a l f w a y a r o u n d t h e
world, giving up their education, interrupting t h e i r careers
and f a m i l i e s so t h a t w e c o u l d h a v e t h e f r e e d o m t h a t w e
have. Martha t o l d t h e m , "No o n e c h a r g e d y o u f o r y o u r d e s k ,
b u t i t w a s n ' t really f r e e . T h e s e g u y s b o u g h t i t f o r y o u . A n d I
hope y o u n e v e r , e v e r f o r g e t i t . "

[Taken from a speech given by former Arkansas governor

and potential presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on
March 2, 2007 and again on September 3, 2008. It
describes the events In Cothren's History class In 2005.] '

The Veterans of Foreign Wars chose Cothren as a Teacher of

the Year in Arkansas for 2005-2006.

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