3C. Socratic Seminar

Named after the philosopher Socrates, Socratic Seminars are structured conversations between students about important ideas, moral, or ethical issues based on analysing a text or by comparing different texts. Socratic seminars encourage critical thinking, facilitate the construction of new knowledge through connections to prior knowledge, and engage students in formulating informed questions and reflecting on their answers. Seminars also require students to substantiate their claims and look at topics from different perspectives.

The difference between a Socratic Seminar and a normal class discussion is that once students are well prepared to generate and ask inquiring questions, the teacher steps out and takes on a spectator role. The aim of this Socratic Seminar is not to debate, but to engage students in a dialogue that enables them to give a meaning to the concepts presented in the text. It can also help achieve group consensus on animal welfare in science.

Before participating in this Socratic Seminar, students prepare for the seminar by reading and analysing a text about animal welfare in science selected by the teacher. They also respond to some open-ended questions provided by the teacher and prepare a few more open-ended questions themselves. To begin the seminar, seven to twelve students sit in a circle in the classroom. In large groups, the other students form a second circle around the first one. The conversation begins by the leader, who is a member of the inner circle, posing an opening question. The other students in the inner circle reflect on the question then formulate a response.

While the students sitting in the inside circle discuss the text by asking and answering questions and responding to the opinion of others, the students sitting in the outer circle are silently participating through a live chat for classrooms, using their smartphones. Once the conversation is finished, students sitting in the outer circle can provide feedback about the process to the students in the inner circle. At the end of this seminar, students reflect about the knowledge they gained during the seminar, as well as their own performance.

An essential step in preparing students to take part in effective Socratic Seminars is the establishment of ground rules. Without them, the conversation would stop.

Suggested ground rules for a Socratic Seminar:

Students come to the seminar prepared.
Students in the inner circle are active participants during the conversation.
Students make eye contact when commenting or questioning, and direct their remarks to each other, rather than to the leader or the teacher.
Students in the inner circle often refer to the text, quoting parts of it.
Students do not raise their hands to speak but wait for an appropriate moment to step into the conversation.
Students don't interrupt others.
Students respectfully disagree with ideas, not the person who shared those ideas.
Students in the outer circle remain silent until the seminar has finished.

Preparing the seminar

50 min

One of a teacher’s most important responsibilities is to choose the texts that will support the students’ conversation. The selected texts should spark a conversation about animal welfare in science, while also being at the appropriate intellectual and social development level for the students. The use of a quality text results in the students having more questions after the seminar than before. In addition to printed texts such as essays, articles, short stories, and poems, teachers may also choose non-print material. Some examples of non-print material are artifacts, primary source documents, photographs, maps, works of art, or examples of student work.

The complexity of the texts must be considered during the selection process. Appropriate texts require the students to read closely and to re-read in their efforts to recognize the theme and identify significant ideas and issues. During and after reading, these texts leave the students with unanswered questions. These texts should display in depth reflection and promote critical thinking, but not so challenging that they are inaccessible to the students.

Example of a text suitable for a Socratic Seminar

Animal research - a debate between a primate researcher and an opponent

Students are also given open-ended questions one day before the seminar. After reading the text they prepare answers to these questions and also formulate a few extra open-ended questions.

Possible open-ended questions are:

What did you notice in the reading of the text?
What arguments have you discovered?

.What can you say about the writing in the text? In what way does the writer try to influence the reader's opinion?
How does the text relate to your experience or expectations about this topic?
Underpin the answers by specific passages and quotations from the text. You should direct the group to specific passages and reread as needed during your discussion.
What argument in the text seems weak compared to other arguments? Why do you think so?
What do you think is the strongest, most important argument in the text?
Do you think animal testing is ever justified? If so, what should be the criteria for when, how and on what animal testing is done?
Generate your own list of questions about this text.

Conducting The seminar

50 min

Socratic Seminar questions are open-ended, with no single correct answer, and are designed to elicit a variety of perspectives and responses. Seminars begin with an open-ended question that promotes the students’ thinking. Students should not be allocated speaking turns, but rather naturally enter the conversation when they have an insight, idea, response, or unanswered question to contribute. The majority of questions in the Socratic Seminar are created and asked by the students. In addition to learning how to construct well-considered questions, students will learn how to respond appropriately. While responding, students are expected to frequently revisit the text for evidence to support their argument.

Three types of questions, opening, guiding, and closing, are used during the different stages of a Socratic Seminar.

Opening questions are designed to generate discussion. These questions are based on the text and prepared ahead of time. They should be answered by referring to the text and can be revisited throughout the exercise. The opening question must rely on the text and draw upon the students’ knowledge and prior experiences.
Guiding questions, asked by the leader, the outer circle (by smartphone) or the teacher, are asked throughout the seminar, and help students deepen and elaborate on their responses. These questions develop in the moment and in response to students’ contributions to the discussion. In order to answer guiding questions, participants need to go deeper into the text and, in some cases, remain open to revising their thinking.
Closing questions at the end of the seminar help participants summarize their new insights and connect the topic to their lives.

A student is assigned the role of leader and has clearly defined responsibilities. The leader fulfils two roles: as the leader and as a participant. In these roles, the leader is required to know the text that is discussed extremely well. The seminar begins with the leader asking a prepared opening question that gives all participants an opportunity to share their ideas. It's the leader’s responsibility to keep the discussion on topic and to ask guiding questions to help students get deeper into the text and revisit their own thinking. At the end of the seminar, the leader asks a closing question. Ultimately, the leader’s questions are designed to help participants deepen their understanding.

In classes with fewer students, they sit in a small circle to participate in the main discussion. In larger classrooms, students are divided between an inner circle and an outer circle. Students in the inner circle share ideas and questions in response to comments from their peers. They connect their ideas to what was previously mentioned and listen actively at all times. Students in the outer circle remain silent during the conversation and engage through a backchannel discussion with their smartphone. This type of discussion encourages audience members to participate live but in a silent way.

Students in the outer circle can participate by posting questions and comments, building on each other’s ideas, using an app like BackChannelChat. The questions should be displayed on a large screen. BackChannelChat has user-friendly features that make it accessible to students. Students can “like” each other’s responses, making it easy to identify which ideas and questions are getting the most traction. Moderators can easily “pin” the most interesting and popular comments to the top of the discussion board so that they don't get lost, especially in a fast-moving conversation. There are also options to approve each post before it is published, allowing other students or the teacher to be the moderator, and embedding polls immediately in your discussion.

At the end of each discussion, students debrief with each other on how the discussion went and the points they considered the most effective. They can reflect on their process skills which include citing the text, respectfully disagreeing with an idea, asking questions of peers, or taking turns. They can also conduct a self-evaluation of their own performance.

Post-seminar reflective questions might include:

What did you do well during the seminar?
What could you work on to become a stronger participant?
How did your thinking grow or change as a result of your participation in the seminar?
Did you go into the seminar with any unanswered questions or confusion? How was this clarified?
Describe the actions taken by the person you feel was the strongest participant in the discussion. How did they keep the conversation moving while engaging others’ thinking?

Closing aCTIVITY: "time for action"

30 min

Finally it's "time for action", the students prepare a campaign against animal testing.

The students must reach a consensus on the content of their campaign material and messages, and about animal welfare in science. The activity should be guided by the statement and question below:

The Netherlands aims to phase out animal testing for safety of chemicals by 2025. They are an example for every country in the EU. Imagine you would organize a march concerning animal testing. What slogans would you write on your banner? Use the answers on the questions of the seminar and the group consensus to underpin your choice.

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