SOCRATIC SEMINAR
A Socratic Seminar is a collaborative, intellectual dialogue abut a text, facilitated with open-ended questions. The main purpose of seminar is to arrive at a fuller understanding of the ideas and values in a text, of ourselves, and of each other.
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Watch from 6:53
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STEP #2 - CREATING QUESTIONSAs participants in the Socratic Seminar, you are required to speak in the discussion. The best way to stimulate discussion is by asking quality questions. That, in fact, is called "The Socratic Method." Questioning is the main premise of Socrates method of teaching.
After reading the text closely, your second job is to devise creative, higher-level questions that will stimulate discussion among your peers. Costa developed three levels of questioning. Your job is to create questions on all levels -- especially level 3. |
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Listening
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STEP #4 - OBSERVING THE DISCUSSIONOften we gain as much from observing and listening as we do from participating in a discussion.
For Socratic Seminar, you will have a partner. Half of the Seminar you will be in the inner circle participating in the discussion, while your partner observes your behaviors from the outer circle. The other half of the seminar, you will be in the outer circle observing your partner and the discussion in general. Click the link below for the Outer Circle Observation form. |
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STEP #5 - REFLECTING ON YOUR EXPERIENCEThe last piece to the Socratic Seminar puzzle is your reflection. After completing a Socratic discussion, your next step is to take the time to consider all that you heard and to decide where your thinking will rest. Perhaps you will change your opinion totally, or perhaps the discussion cemented your thinking. Maybe you have a clearer view of the topic, and the discussion helped you to clarify your thinking. Or, maybe you are more confused than ever, since you've heard some opinion you'd never considered before.
Wherever you end up at the end of a Socratic Seminar, it is enhancing your mind and increasing your thinking. That is the goal. Take the time to consider what new thinking you have encountered, and spend some time in personal reflection. Click the button below for the Reflection Sheet. |
Plus,
After each seminar, consider your Socratic Seminar performance, and we will set Group Goals, and you will set Personal Goals each time we meet.
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COMMON GROUP GOALS
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