Charity No
313712
Using Socratic Dialogue in school
Article for Headlines (Journal of Secondary Heads Association, 2000)
By TAMSYN IMISON, Ex-Headteacher of Hampstead Comprehensive School
I was introduced to Socratic dialogue by Paul and Rene Branton (Saran) over ten years ago. They were both key players in the Society for the Furtherance of Critical Philosophy (SFCP. www.sfcp.org.uk.) This society has organised many Socratic dialogue groups in Germany and in the UK. It is a method pioneered by the German philosopher Leonard Nelson after the First World War. I have found it a very stimulating and challenging way of developing my own and others ideas and skills. As Rene was my Chair of Governors I was lucky to have her skills easily available.
We have used Socratic dialogue with mathematicians spending a very exciting weekend discussing prime numbers. Two of my Maths Department participated, alongside others from higher education. This method required all of us to understand each step and there were significant insights to be had both for Professors and lay people. It rejuvenated everyone but most particularly my colleagues and me!
We have also built this in to the training of students from the School Council with the potential to play the role of Chair or key spokesperson in the Council. The last group of students to participate interviewed all the short listed applicants for the Deputy Head Post. Their confidence and astuteness were impressive.
The Socratic dialogue has developed the students’ thinking skills, their ability to argue and put over their views logically as well as giving them a deeper understanding of the ethical underpinnings of what they are doing. Dialogues are best with no more than ten so we usually invite students to volunteer themselves.
Rene Saran who has acted as facilitator wrote an evaluation of this method used with students for our Governors and for an article in Management in Education volume 12, Issue 3, 1998. She wrote:
‘Socratic dialogue offers students the opportunity to improve their critical thinking and reasoning skills, by philosophising co-operatively in a group, aiming to arrive at agreement on a challenging question.’
‘The question (which the group will need to formulate) is at the centre of the Dialogue and is explored through systematic reflection about a concrete experience of one or more of the participants which all in the group can enter into, almost as if they, too, had experienced it’.
‘Our task involves exchanges of views and reasoned judgements, careful and patient listening in order to understand each other. Every group member – students and adults, has an equal right to be heard. The discussion moves slowly and systematically, so that all participants gain insight into the substance of the dialogue.’
‘The process of learning to philosophise ourselves moves from the concrete, particular experience to seeking general propositions, judgements or answers, validated by reasons which all in the group find convincing.’
The issues we have addressed have been – Why are rules necessary? Equal rights for boys and girls? and Is bullying a fact of life? These dialogues have been rated as highly valued by all of those participating and appear to have increased the awareness as well as the ambition of those students. It is also a powerful way of allowing students to interrogate ethical issues.
Some of the personal examples in relation to Why are rules necessary? are set out below:
| ‘At primary school we were not allowed fizzy drinks but the teachers had them.’ | |
| ‘Even though it was cold in the classroom I was not allowed to keep my jacket on because of the classroom code.’ | |
| ‘At junior school our uniform prescribed white ankle socks, otherwise we were sent home. It was ridiculous.’ | |
| ‘I asked a friend a relevant question in Maths but was told to be quiet under the classroom code.’ | |
| ‘I was in PE. The teacher would not allow me to wear my hoops because of the PE code.’ | |
| ‘On Sports Day our teacher required that equal numbers of boys and girls participate in each team. My team was unable to enter because we were short of girls.’ * chosen to be discussed. |
At the end of these dialogues students give their views.
- ‘It heightened my listening skills’
- ‘It helped me understand the teacher’s situation’
- ‘It focused and concentrated my thinking’
- ‘It was really hard to concentrate for so long. I am exhausted!’
- ‘I really enjoyed it!’
- ‘When can we do this again?
- ‘Can we choose the topics next time?’’
How to go about a Socratic dialogue.
The group needs to be in a quiet room where they are not disturbed. They need to be seated in a circle with the facilitator at the front with a flip chart, pens and blue tack. Having experimented, we found a whole day was too tiring for young people because they have to concentrate all the time. A long morning session is about right.
The ‘Socratic’ element is using some piece of agreed personal experience, relevant to the topic under discussion, which should come from one of the participants. This allows the group to formulate the question that will be discussed.
The facilitator needs to be experienced in Socratic dialogue. The facilitator is needed not to teach but to guide. They must be a ‘non-authority’ while remaining directive on all procedural matters. The facilitator is responsible for keeping up the discipline of the discussion while, at the same time, creating an atmosphere, of trust and personal warmth, which will allow every participant to feel included. They must also ensure that the discussion is fruitful, coherent and open. They need to scribe a continuous record of all the key points discussed and to display this, so that previous points can be referred to. This ‘scribing’ ensures there is clarity as all participants must feel satisfied that a true record is kept.
The key rules which must be enforced by the facilitator very strictly are:
- Restraint; non-directivity concerning substantial questions
- Impartiality, protection of the slow thinker
- Enabling the participants to understand each other clearly, supporting efforts to better understanding
- Holding the participants to the central question
- Working towards a consensus.
These rules are also useful for dealing with Performance Related Pay!
The facilitator must make sure that all participants
- Have time to express themselves clearly
- Listen carefully so they really understand what the other speaker is saying
- Take their own experience as a starting point for contributing
- Are not afraid to articulate any unease or concerns they may have.
The ‘Socratic’ element is using some piece of agreed personal experience, relevant to the topic under discussion, which should come from one of the participants. This allows the group to formulate the question that will be discussed.
Meta-dialogues are useful as an extension. These can take place prior to any natural breaks like lunch. This is where all participants express their own perceptions on the way the dialogue is proceeding. It allows concerns to be formally expressed and addressed.
I am convinced that such structured dialogue has an important part to play in schools. We are still very short of trained facilitators and currently it is only a very few schools that are lucky enough to be able to run such dialogues. We are intending to expand and would be delighted to hear from Colleagues in any school that would be interested in participating. For those of you who would like to have more practical detail, do look us up on the website shown above.
This copy of the article is circulated with papers for the Workshop on ‘How can Socratic Dialogue be used in ethics lessons in school?’ given by Barbara Neisser and Rene Saran, at the PPA/SFCP International Conference on SOCRATIC DIALOGUE AND ETHICS at Loccum, Germany, 24-29 July 2000.