Skip to main content
Fired for making students think with the Socratic Method

I love this style of teaching, If you haven't heard of it before you are missing out. For more detailed information about it click this Wikipedia link . The basic principle is that you can teach any subject by asking questions. The strangest proof I have found of this is teaching binary math. This method develops students and helps them become great workers reflecting on issues and thinking laterally around problems. And a Lecturer in america was fired for using it. Read the story here. 
I wanted to say I can't believe students complained but my own experiences as a trainer, educator and lecturer has shown this too me personally. Some students don't want to be encouraged to think for themselves, instead that want nice neat presentations of facts and the theories that they can hear, memories and repeat but rarely understand. I hate limiting my own style to this industrial revolution approach to education. I always want to teach people in an interactive style where they learn from the process as much as from my delivery. But this approach isn't always popular. I think there are two reasons why the Socratic Method is unpopular with students. Firstly some students have a lazy attitude and can't be bothered to think they want all education to be something they can just sit through and let wash over them rarely making an impression. I believe you find these students stressing when it comes to writing essays and cramming before exams because they never understood the subject. Secondly some students hate group work and interaction in front of a group. These students would happily engage in discussion and the Socratic method on a one to one basis but not in groups. Students that feel this way may rightly feel their learning styles are not be accounted for. This proves that whilst the Socratic method is good it should not be the only method employed. Instead good educators should use a range of methods. 

But why do education authorities dislike this method. The article I linked to suggested that it is because it is harder to measure and report/record learning from the Socratic method. The education system of the west is so focused on measurable results that they can put into neat tables. Whilst this creates good league tables I believe it does not help develop good workers, preparing them for careers in modern professions. Until the western education system drops its obsession with results the Socratic Method will remain unpopular and good educators will loose their jobs for making students think. 







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fishkeeping in a Cambodian Rice Field

Improving subsistence farmers diet with fish husbandry in Cambodia How can a bunch of fish ponds make a real difference? This summer I am travelling around South-East Asia, including Cambodia. In Cambodia I will be visiting some NGOs and  voluntary aid projects . I meet with our main contact this week and most of the work is focused on people projects, teaching English,  prison visits , drug addiction etc but they mentioned one project where they help rice farmers start fish husbandry projects. These projects are designed to help the local subsistence farmers grow on fish to adult size for increasing the protein component of their diet. Being interested in all forms of fish keeping I hope that when we travel to Cambodia I can visit the project or at least meet up with the team managing the project. It sounds like a fascinating and practical way to help some of the worlds poorest improve th...
2 comments
Read more

Fish growing in an elephants footprint

Killifish are beautiful and fascinating  After watching this video they have now moved up to the top of my Fish wish list . Next time I get to set up a new tank these will be in it! Currently I am not sure if I would want to start with an annual or a non-annual variety but I am very attracted to the colouration of the  Blue Lyretail . These small fish seem both tough and clever at avoiding predators (see the water scorpion in video), catching prey and breeding.  The video shows some annual Killifish displaying there amazing ability to have eggs laid in damp mud wait for water to return and then hatch. This curious ability allows these fish to thrive in areas with varying water levels. Their annual breeding ability also allows their eggs to be swapped, traded and sent by post between breeder and collectors both across a country and internationally. Their annual nature greatly appeals to me as a project that allows me to view a compl...
Post a Comment
Read more
<b>Full to the top or a ghost town</b> For the first time in my professional career I ran an open community youth club on Halloween. Normally Halloween falls during school half term and as we follow school opening it has never happened before. We opened knowing that Halloween may have unusual impacts on numbers. We didn't know if the festival would encourage lots of people out of houses and therefore increase numbers or would people all have parties to attend and trick or treating to do and therefore decrease numbers? We opened the club not knowing what to expect in attendance or behaviour. After being open for 30 minutes we had our answer. No one was coming. Not a single young person walked through our door. Our club was empty so we went out and did some detached youth work. We learnt a lesson about working on Halloween. But this night got me thinking is it better to have too few or too many young people in a youth club? When you have too many young people in a youth ...
Post a Comment
Read more