Socratic Seminar

Socratic Seminar Procedure

(Based upon work by EL Education)

Procedure

1. Select a significant piece of text or collection of short texts related to the current focus of study. This may be an excerpt from a book or an article from a magazine, journal, or newspaper. It might also be a poem, short story, political cartoon, or personal memoir. The text needs to be rich with possibilities for diverse points of view.

2. Develop an open-ended, provocative question as the starting point for the seminar discussion. The question should be worded to elicit differing perspectives and complex thinking. Students should also generate questions to discuss.

3. Students prepare for the seminar by reading the chosen piece of text in an active manner that helps them build background knowledge for participation in the discussion. The completion of the pre-seminar task is the student’s “ticket” to participate in the seminar. The pre-seminar assignment could easily incorporate work on reading strategies. For example, students might be asked to read the article in advance and to “text code” by underlining important information, putting questions marks by segments they wonder about, and exclamation points next to parts that surprise them.   Several teachers publish annotation guides for reading text in preparation for Seminar.

4. Once the seminar begins, all students should be involved and should make sure others in the group are drawn into the discussion

5. Begin the discussion with the open-ended question designed to provoke inquiry and diverse perspectives. Students may choose to move to a different question if the group agrees, or the facilitator may pose follow-up questions.

6. During the conversation, the teacher can play roles along a spectrum, from active participant to completely quiet, depending upon students' skills at maintaining the conversation.

7. The teacher tracks the conversation.

8. The discussion proceeds until you call time. At that time, the group debriefs their process; if using a fishbowl (see below), the outer circle members give their feedback sheets to the inner group students.

Protocol norms: Students

• Respect other students. (Exhibit open-mindedness and value others’ contributions)

• Are active listeners. (Build on one another’s ideas by referring to them.)

• Stay focused on the topic.

• Make specific references to the text. (Use examples from the text to explain their points.)

• Give input. (Ensure participation.)

• Ask questions. (Clarifying questions, and probing questions that push the conversation further and deeper when appropriate.)

Variations

1. Combine with the Fishbowl protocol. When it is time for the seminar, students are divided into two groups if there are enough people to warrant using a fishbowl approach. One group forms the inner circle (the “fish”) that will be discussing the text. The other group forms the outer circle that will give feedback on content, contributions, and/or group skills. (Note: “Fishbowls” may be used with other instructional practices such as peer critiques, literature circles, or group work. If the number of students in the seminar is small, a fishbowl does not need to be used.) Each person in the outer circle is asked to observe one of the students in the inner circle. Criteria or a rubric for the observations should be developed by/shared with students in advance: see the following example.

2. Divide your class into different groups of the right size for a seminar (6-10 is a common choice).  While you are meeting with one group, the rest of the class is in their seats, doing silent individual work.  When you are done with one group, you rotate the next to the Seminar.