How to Conduct a Socratic Seminar

In this video, Waialua High and Intermediate School 7th grade AVID students explain and demonstrate how to carry out a Socratic Seminar, a group discussion format that revolves around open-ended questions and encourages listening, critical thinking, and discussion (rather than debate) aimed at finding common ground. Socrates believed that enabling students to think for themselves was more important than filling their heads with the “right answers.” In a Socratic Seminar, participants seek a deeper understanding of complex ideas through rigorously thoughtful dialogue, rather than by memorizing bits of information. Overview: -A moderator prompts the use of dialogue . -Participants share thoughts and collaborate to increase their understanding. -Participants are less attached to their ideas and less reliant on persuasion for influencing opinions. -Dialogue is a skill of collaboration that enables groups to create collective thinking. Here are simple steps and guidelines to follow: 1. Teacher prepares students in advance by having them use critical reading strategies (previewing, marking the text, writing in the margins, etc.) to read articles about the issue and develop open-ended questions. 2. Students come together with their reading material and questions. 3. A moderator starts by asking for a participant to share a question. 4. Participants respond by sharing their ideas and using personal experience, examples, and the text for evidence. No one dominates; e