Here at NCES we want to engage our students in strategies that ignite their critical thinking skills. One such strategy is the Socratic Seminar. What Is a Socratic Seminar?
A Socratic Seminar invites students to facilitate a discussion in order to work together toward a shared understanding of a text. In a Socratic Seminar activity, students help one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text through a group discussion format. Students are responsible for facilitating their group discussion around the ideas in the text; they shouldn’t use the discussion to assert their opinions or prove an argument.
Through this type of discussion, students practice how to listen to one another, make meaning, and find common ground while participating in a conversation.
How do Teachers Conduct a Socratic Seminar?
Step 1: Select an Appropriate Text
The Socratic Seminar strategy is based on close textual analysis, so it is important to select a text that provides ample avenues for interpretation and discussion. If you choose a simple text where the meaning is fairly straightforward, there won’t be much for students to discuss. Also, the text should not be too long to read closely in the allotted amount of time. Often, teachers select a text ranging from one paragraph to one page.
Step 2: Give Students Time to Prepare
Before beginning the seminar, it is essential that students have time to prepare ideas. Students should annotate the text before the start of the class discussion. Teachers often assign a discussion leader who generates a few open-ended questions that can be used to begin the seminar.
Step 3: Develop a Classroom Contract
These seminars have rules that may not apply to other forms of discussion, so before beginning the seminar, it is important that everyone is aware of the norms.
Step 4: The Socratic Seminar
A Socratic Seminar activity often begins with the discussion leader, a student or the teacher, asking an open-ended question. A typical opening prompt is: What do you think this text means?
Step 5: Reflect and Evaluate
After the Socratic Seminar activity, give students the opportunity to evaluate the process in general and their own performance specifically. Reflecting on the seminar process helps students improve their ability to participate in future discussions. Here are some questions you might discuss or have students write about when reflecting on the seminar:
- What evidence did you see of people actively listening and building on others' ideas?
- How has your understanding of this text been affected by the ideas explored in this seminar?
See some pictures below of Ms. Miller's ELA class engaging in this great learning strategy.
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