Socratic Questioning - Essay Example

Socratic questioning Introduction Can it be, Ischomachus, that asking questions is teaching? I am just beginning to see what is behind all your questions. You lead me on by means of things I know, point to things that resemble them, and persuade me that I know things that I thought I had no knowledge of -Socrates (Quoted in Xenophon’s Economics). Socratic questioning is nothing but uncomplicated and at the same time a strong means for researching ideas or assertions in profundity and width. It is appropriate in all courses of action and a crucial tool for all teachers of thinking. Socratic teaching is one of the oldest and most powerful, teaching approach for nurturing critical thinking among the students. Socratic teaching believes in providing the students with questions rather than answers. This method instills in the students a mind of thinking and answering their own questions to find a solution for their problems. Actually this method can be viewed as an extremely well-organized process to sharpen the pupil’s own ’decisive voice’. This methodology aids in developing the mind and its thinking capacity in every student. But at the same time all the thoughts of different minds have to be measured and considered carefully and fairly. The students are thus able to taper and develop their own metacognitive accomplishments, with the dialogues raised inside which are then used to aid, assess and evaluate alternative ideas and viewpoints. Definition of Socratic questioning: According to Dobson, and Dobson (2009) “Socratic questioning involves asking strategic questions to understand clients’ perspectives and help them work out solutions to their problems”. The most important elements that can be drawn out from this definition are that the method of Socratic questioning attempts to expose therapeutic chances. For e.g. “When you’re depressed you seem to believe your negative thoughts rather uncritically. Are your negative thoughts always correct? Might some be unrealistically negative? Could positive thoughts be even more accurate? Perhaps we could explore how accurate your thinking is?” Dobson and Dobson (2009). Socratic Method is a dialectical technique of analysis that applies cross-examination of someones assertions and assumptions to bring out a challenge or internal discrepancy among them. Socratic questioning is the heart of critical thinking. It actually enhances the critical thinking skills of an individual. Socratic questions challenge correctness and totality of thinking so that people are inclined to move for their final goal. According to Copeland (2005, p.7) Socratic questioning is, “by helping students examine their premonitions and beliefs while at the same time accepting the limitations of human thought, Socrates believed students could improve their reasoning skills and ultimately move toward more rational thinking and ideas more easily supported with logic.” The Function of Socratic Questioning in Teaching, Thinking & Learning According to Paul (1990) Socratic questioning: Raises basic issues; Probes beneath the surface of things; Pursues problematic areas of thought; Helps students discover the structure of their own thought; Helps students develop sensitivity to clarity, accuracy, and relevance; Helps students arrive at a judgment through their own reasoning; and Helps students note claims, evidence, conclusions, questions-at-issue, assumptions, implications, consequences, concepts, interpretations, points of view (p. 270). One of the causes that teachers incline to overstress “coverage” over “engaged thinking” is because they do not completely value the purpose of questions in teaching subject. As a result, they imagine that answers have to be taught separately and questions separately. Actually it is an established fact that thinking is driven by questions (W. Paul, Martin, and Adamson, 1989). If the founders of a particular subject like physics or biology etc. had not asked any questions then it is natural that these fields would never have been developed. In reality, every academic field has developed out of a bunch of questions to which responses are either demanded or extremely suitable. In addition, every field is active only to the level that new questions are brought forth and taken in earnest as the driving force in a course of thinking. If one has to think thoroughly or even rethink anything then it is imperative that he/she questions herself/himself so that thoughts are stimulated (W. Paul, Martin, and Adamson, 1989). When problems are to be solved then questioning will define the tasks, convey troubles and outline issues. Whereas answers will, on the other hand, put a full stop to one’s thoughts. It is only when the answer is able to generate additional question that thoughts continue its life or else it dies (W. Paul, Martin, and Adamson, 1989). Edelman (2002) furnished the following valuable instances of different Socratic questions: “what are facts and what are simply my perceptions, what evidence supports or contradicts my perceptions, have I made up any thinking errors (catastrophising, personalizing, generalizing etc.) and how else can I view or perceive this situation”. Conclusion: Thus normally when the Socratic Method is used it inclines to become reasonably lucid and easy to find out as to when people get lost or are mistaken or just guessing. Their manner tends to alter when they are imagining and their reply comes out in a questioning tone. To conclude, there are two interesting side, benefits when Socratic Method is used (http://www.garlikov.com/Soc_Meth.html, accessed 23 February 2010.): 1. It renders the students an opportunity to go through the accompanying joy and thrill of attaining often complex ideas on their own. 2. The method also provides the teachers with a chance to know how much more creative and brilliant students are than they usually appear to be when they are largely inactive (http://www.garlikov.com/Soc_Meth.html, accessed 23 February 2010.) Additionally, there is couple of occasions where Socrates was described to stand firm for hours, as if in an enchantment mood (Guthrie, 1971. pp. 84-85). When all this is considered our normal notion of Socrates as a cogent intellectual probing for explanations is deeply skewed. Thus we can conclude that Socrates philosophical hunt was never merely abstract, but as an alternative more like a skill, a well applied action. Socratic questioning, nevertheless advantageous, must be acquired both by teachers and students. It necessitates more than evoking one-word answers, and it needs students to make suppositions. Reference: 1. Copeland, M. Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking. Portland, MN: Stenhouse Publishers, 2005. p7. 2. Dobson, DJA, and KS Dobson. Evidence-based practice of cognitive behavioral therapy. New York: Guilford Press, 2009. Print. 3. Edelman, S. Change Your Thinking Cambridge: Marlowe 2002 4. Guthrie, W.K.C. Socrates, Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1971, pp. 84-85129. 5. Paul, R. Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World. Rohnert Park, CA: Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique (1990) 6. W. Paul, Richard, Douglas Martin, and Ken Adamson. Critical Thinking Handbook: High School, A Guide for Redesigning Instruction. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1989. Print. 7. http://www.garlikov.com/Soc_Meth.html, accessed 23 February 2010 Read More