Gifted Students and the Socratic Method
Differentiate Instruction with Inquiry-Based Lessons
Oct 20, 2008
Named for the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, who first used the method with his student Plato, the Socratic Method of instruction is an effective classroom strategy for gifted students. This proven inquiry-based methodology promotes the use of inductive and deductive reasoning in order to apply knowledge and solve problems. This Classical Education method is ideal for bright children.
Differentiating Instruction with Socratic Seminars
Gifted students are typically able to use higher level thinking for problem solving much earlier than their age peers. Thus, precocious children may become frustrated with classroom methods that rely heavily on memorization, identification, recall of information, and summary.
For this reason, gifted children need differentiated lessons that require them to logically apply knowledge. Socratic seminar groups challenge bright students to cooperatively solve problems by applying what they know. For instance, instead of merely summarizing facts, students engaged in a Socratic seminar might be asked to defend, criticize, compare or evaluate those facts in order to construct more complex meaning.
Organizing Socratic Seminars
Although a Socratic classroom requires an instructor to be flexible, he or she will also need to work toward intended course objectives. For this reason, teachers should follow a few guidelines when managing students engaged in Socratic groups.
- Group of intellectually compatible students: While this may fly in the face of conventional cooperative learning methodology, it is important for gifted children to have intellectual peers who will understand and appreciate divergent thinking.
- Start with a question: An open-ended question that requires students to use information you want them to know will encourage students to apply knowledge and, ideally, come up with questions of their own.
- Encourage questioning: Even as students begin to construct answers to the instructor's original inquiry, they should begin to formulate their own questions for one another both for clarification and expansion of ideas.
- Moderate rather than lecture: Stay out of student dialogue as much as possible. Students should problem solve with one another rather than with the teacher. In a Socratic classroom, an instructor's job is to keep participants on task and occasionally summarize. The teacher should not, however, lecture or otherwise hijack the conversation.
- Be prepared with more questions: Because the Socratic method may take students in a number of unplanned directions, the instructor should be prepared to provide questions or occasional hints that will keep students in line with overall course objectives.
- Provide an assessment rubric so that students have guidelines for what you expect them to know and explore during the course of the seminar.
Grading Inquiry-Based Dialogue
Ultimately instructors are faced with the difficult task of evaluating student knowledge. For this reason an instructor needs to identify and communicate the content and weight of assessment areas before students begin their seminars. Here are some generic questions that teachers may want to consider:
- Was the student prepared, showing knowledge of the prior reading, notes or lecture material?
- Did the student integrate this knowledge into logical arguments or conclusions?
- Did the student provide support for and an explanation of major ideas?
- Did the student collaborate with group members to work toward a shared understanding?
- Did the student listen to and apply the viewpoints of others?
- Was the student respectful of opposing viewpoints?
- Did the student ask thoughtful questions?
Be sure to apply point values to the stated objectives of your assessment rubric.
The Socratic method challenges gifted students to organize ideas and use critical thinking skills while cooperating with classmates in the pursuit of knowledge. Students schooled with this method will be better prepared for future academic challenges.
