SOCRATIC DISCUSSION MY CONNECTION

I first learned of ‘Socratic Discussion’ when attending an Australian Education Union summer school program in Canberra during the 1991/92 school holiday.

The program was one of a number offered as workshop options for participants. The presenter was Nancy Letts, an educator and facilitator from New York, USA. I enrolled in the workshop out of curiosity.

The deeper into the workshop participants were immersed, the more convinced I became that this discourse and discussion methodology would work well in classroom contexts. It had worried me for a long time that children tended to be ‘all mouth and no ears’ when speaking and listening. The ‘kill space’ syndrome manifested part of this. If someone was talking, listeners heard only for a brief pause. That pause was a licence to verbally jump into the space, whether the speaker had finished or was merely pausing for breath.

Children, along with adult models, tended to criticise peers for holding viewpoints rather than appreciating speakers for putting forward particular views on subjects.

Socratic Discussion offered an alternative whereby students could be trained or developed as respectful participants, appreciating peers and considering points of view provided in discussion.

The workshop was one of the very best I have ever attended because it had applicability. During the years since I have done quite a lot of work around the model.

* It has been applied since 1992 in class contexts and for all year levels from transition to Year Seven ( when the sevens were still in Primary School).

* I ran workshops for students drawn from several primary schools who came together weekly at Dripstone Middle School as those ‘enriched’ and need to be challenged by extension. One student was James Mousa, whose commentary about Socrates is reproduced elsewhere.

Part of this was an evening culmination when students presented and modelled Socratic Discussion to their parents, running the evening from start to finish.

* It has been modelled for teachers who have taken the approach on board in their practice.

* I have conducted six or seven workshops with groups, outlining the concept and having the groups practice the process. Feedback has always been appreciated, and many attending have taken the approach on board.

How the Socratic Approach helps children

I believe Socratic Discussion is of benefit to children for the following reasons:

* It dissuades the old-fashioned ideal that ‘children should be seen and not heard’ but in a way that encourages a structured rather than unthinking and conversational approach to conversation.

* It helps persuade children that ‘all mouth and no ears’ (over-talking and under-listening) need not be a perception held of them.

* It is a process that balances speaking and listening skills in a positive educational manner.

* It is also a process upholding the rights of children to hold and express opinions; it reinforces the value of youthful points of view.

* It highlights the honesty and impediment-free factors generally inherent in young people’s speech.

* The value of student voice is reinforced, with children who participate appreciating that worth and value are placed on what they and their peers say.

In a Nutshell

Socratic Discussion is an ISSUES-based BASED APPROACH to thinking and speaking.

The essential element is the process. The issue is a means to understanding that end.

The process is issues-focused, not personality-directed: It aims to build, not destroy.

Listening, thinking and speaking are all essential skills appealed to and developed by the process.

More to come