Socratic Seminars

One of my favorite classroom activities I employ frequently is the Socratic Seminar.
I first learned about Socratic Seminars when I started working here in Riyadh. It is a very popular teaching "style" at this school and the entire English department use Socratic Seminars to challenge students to think about literature more deeply and analytically.

In a nutshell, Socratic Seminars are structured student-lead discussions. Students are told to prepare for the seminar in advance by reading a particular chapter or passage from a literary text. When the students arrive to class, they come prepared with at least one discussion question or topic they would like to bring up in the seminar. After they arrange themselves in a circle, so that all students are included and visible, the discussion begins. One student takes initiative to get things started usually by proposing their own question or topic to be analyzed. After that first stone is cast, the students immediately jump in and start discussing and debating.

I hesitate to use the word debate. Debate implies a competition of sorts -- an activity that concludes with a clear winner and loser. Someone is proven wrong. Socratic seminars are not about what is "right" and what is "wrong". They are not about someone winning. They are designed to encourage and challenge students to think deeply about a topic or question and  use facts and evidence to support their beliefs. Occasionally,  debate does break out between students when discussing a particularly challenging or controversial issue, but due to the fact that the inherent nature of Socratic Seminars is equality, fairness and open-ness, the debates
seldom ever turn into arguments (which happens frequently in high school "debates").

As a teacher, SS are a wonderful teaching tool. I love hearing my students challenge each other and ask each other thought provoking questions without my asking them to. It is such a great feeling as a teacher to be able to be a "fly on the wall" and just listen to my students guide themselves to their own understanding of a topic or concept. It is the antithesis of traditional "lecture"-style teaching. It is student-centered and student-driven. 

SS work best with older students, however I have successfully used them in my 9th grade English classes. I usually have to start the seminar off for them with a guiding question or prompt and occasionally need to jump in and moderate the discussion, but overall I have been very pleased with the level of depth and insight my younger students have been able to get into during SS classes. 

Below is another teaching strategy I have employed to make my SS work even more effectively in the classroom. I call this "seminar mapping". Since my students are the one's running the class on SS days, as the teacher I am just an observer. So what I have started to do as a means to show my students what their discussion "looks like", is map out their discussion to illuminate patterns and trends that emerge in their discussions:

I first write down the names of the all the SS participants in a circle, in order.

Then, once the first student starts speaking, I put my pen to the board and draw a line indicating where the speaker role moves to. Essentially drawing lines showing where the "lines of dialogue" shift to.

In addition, I am also jotting down key points, arguments, observations, details and questions brought up by various students in the discussion (to be further analyzed and commended later).

This is all happening in real time, meaning the students are watching me watch them. This works especially well at targeting those students who do not speak up very often. They see their name on the board without any lines connecting to them and they feel compelled to speak up. Their passivity is staring them in the face and their lack of participation becomes all the more obvious. 

The Socratic Seminar is without a doubt the best teaching tool I have acquired since coming to teach here in Riyadh. It has completely redefined how I teach my students and it has allowed me to see greater indicators of growth in their understanding and learning over time. 

The students really enjoy the seminars as well. Mostly for the simple reason that they don't have to write anything down, but also because it gives them a sense of pride and ownership over what they're reading in class. Every child wants to feel as though his or her own thoughts are valued and heard and these seminars are designed with the idea that student thoughts, opinions and questions are worth listening to! I also find the seminars helpful for weaker students who struggle to grasp certain concepts in class when I'm teaching but are able to clarify their understanding when it is explained to them in simpler terms by a peer. Socratic seminars encourage the quiet students to speak up to defend their arguments and challenge the loud and confident students to take on the responsibility of leadership roles.