The Socratic Seminar:
A Student-Centered Approach to
Inquiry-Based Discussion
Elizabeth Smith
English Language Fellow
Workshop Agenda
I.) What is the Socratic Seminar?
II.) Practice: Experience a Socratic
Seminar
III.) Reflection
The Vision
 Socrates believed that enabling
students to think for themselves
was more important than filling
their heads with
“right answers.”
What are Socratic Seminars?
 Highly motivating form of intellectual and scholarly
discourse
 Rich, text-based discussion
 Sharing, listening, learning,
 and reflection
Elements of a Socratic Seminar
 4 Key Elements:
Text
 Questions
 Students
 Teacher (Facilitator)

Usually range from 30-50 minutes
 An effective seminar creates dialogue
as opposed to debate
Starting Dialogue
 Asking questions is the key!
 A leader prompts the use of dialogue

skill of collaboration that enables groups to create collective
thinking.
 Students must risk making mistakes in order to
learn how to learn to think critically, and work
collaboratively.
 Idea sharing  no right, no wrong
Sparking Stimulating Dialogue
 Observations: “I noticed the author repeated…”
 Text Analysis: “One quote that was important to
me was…”
 Connection Making
 (self-text,
text-text, text-world)
 Conclusions: “I think the author is trying to say…”
 Applications: “I think we are being challenged
to…”
Discussion & Dialogue
Discussion: a close examination of a subject with
interchange of opinions, sometimes using argument,
in an effort to reach an agreement
Dialogue: an interchange of ideas especially when
open and frank and seeking mutual understanding
A Socratic Seminar is collective inquiry where we
suspend opinions, share openly, and think
creatively about difficult issues via discussion
and dialouge
Dialogue is NOT Debate!
Debate
Dialogue
-oppositional
-defending arguments
-collaborative
-open and reflective
The Text
 Readings in literature, history, science,
math, health, and philosophy or from
works of art or music
 Give students exposure to text day before
to read and generate questions for
participation
The Questions
 An opening question has no right answer
 leads
participants back to the text as they
speculate, evaluate, define, and clarify the
issues involved.
 Responses to the opening question generate
new questions
Guidelines for Questioning
Learning occurs based on the kinds of questions
asked
• Develop opening, core, and closing
questions before the seminar
– Non-judgmental and derived from
the text
– Questions that raise questions
• Avoid using YES/NO questions
Example Questions:
 By what reasoning did you come to that conclusion?
 What would you say to someone who said __?
 Are the reasons adequate? Why?
 What led you to that belief?
 How does that apply to this case?
 What would change your mind?
 Who is in the position to know if that is so?
 Why did you say “they?”
 What view would be in opposition to what you are
saying?
The Facilitator/Teacher
 Begins Seminar by prompting
beginning questions
 Moderates balanced participation
 Helps participants clarify their positions
when arguments become confused
Tips for Teachers
Before the seminar:
 Read the text CAREFULLY
 Focus on provocative questions
 Select short, accessible passages
 Identify challenging vocabulary
 Choose an introductory question in advance
 Broad, open-ended, provocative
Tips for Teachers
 Review & post seminar procedures
 Respond
to the opening question
 Examine the text to support your answer
“I agree with… but would like to
add…”
“I disagree with…because…”
“I am confused by…”
Tips for Teachers
 Allow for pauses

Silent moments for thinking
 As a leader, take notes
 Sum
up what you’ve heard at the end of the
session
The Participants
 Share responsibility for the quality
of the seminar.
• Most effective when
participants:
–study the text closely
in advance
–listen actively
The Participants
 Most effective when participants:
– share their ideas and
questions in response
to others
– search for evidence
in the text to support
their ideas
The “Fishbowl” Strategy:
 For LARGE classes (over 25 students)
• Divide the class into
“Inner” and
“Outer”
circles
Conducting a “Fishbowl”
 Inner circle = active participants
 Outer circle = students observe 2
active participants for:




New ideas
Question asked
Referred to text
Positive Comments
Reflective Participants
 What was the most interesting question?
 What was the most interesting idea to come from
a participant?
 What was the best thing you observed?
 What was the most troubling thing you observed?
 What do you think should be done differently in
the next seminar?
 What do you wish you had said?
Benefits include:
 All four language modalities utilized
 Academic Speaking and Listening Skills strengthened
 In-depth discussions, problem solving, and clarification of
ideas
 Builds a strong, collaborative work culture
 Enhances knowledge and research-based
 Increases success for all students
 Teaches respect for diverse ideas, people, and
practices
 Creates a positive learning environment for all
students
Tips for Teachers
During the seminar:
 Begin with an opening question that has NO right
answer



“What is meant by…”
“What is the title, theme and tone of the
reading..?”
“What is your own interpretation of the
reading…?”
 Teacher listens HARD, follows each answer, if
necessary, with another question.
Assessing
 Take notes, use rubrics
Many
teachers prefer to assign a
culminating written assignment or
essay on the topic
Experience!
 Observe a real Socratic Seminar
 Read OUR text
 Practice a Seminar as a participant
 Reflect
Questions?
Thank you very much for your time!
Stay in touch!
Elizabeth Smith
English Language Fellow, CCNN
[email protected]
“English Language Fellow Nicaragua”