PETAL

The Socratic Method

Last week, PETAL had the pleasure of sponsoring a Brown Bag Lunch where Dr. Ethan Fishman (Political Science) led a wonderful discussion on a very famous teaching technique that is rarely understood and practiced appropriately.  Most people believe that using the Socratic Method is simply conducting a Q&A session, but it is much more systematic, structured, and rigorous.

The primary purpose of the Socratic Method is to lead to a special and sophisticated form of critical thinking that examines the relationship between what we believe to be true and the underlying assumptions that lead us to hold such beliefs.

To do this, you start with a belief or conclusion on a certain issue or topic, which is often the answer to an initial question.  In our session, Dr. Fishman asked the group what we thought was the most humane system of government.  The answer, predictably, was democracy.

The next step is what makes the method unique.  The facilitator then asks questions to probe the underlying philosophical assumptions on which the answer/conclusion for step one is based in order to determine whether or not the answer/conclusion is logically and philosophically consistent with the underlying belief/assumption.

The final step is to reconsider the answer/conclusion based on the incongruities uncovered in the process.

What is most interesting about the Socratic method to me is that it's another of those teaching techniques that would seem to lend itself more to some disciplines than others.  And while this is probably true to some extent when we think about day-to-day instruction, Dr. Fishman very cogently pointed out that if some of those disciplines that claim it doesn't apply (e.g., certain scientific and mathematical disciplines) would apply the Socratic method to the assumptions that are the underpinnings of the discipline, the entire workings of math and science would be revolutionized.

When can we start?