Socratic Circles1. (Back to Table of Contents). Time Required: 60-75 minutes. Purpose: The purpose of Socratic Seminar i
Discussion Protocols
I.
Dialogue Communities
II.
Socratic Circles
Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved • SanfordInspire.org
Dialogue Communities (Back to Table of Contents)
Time Required: 40-50 minutes Purpose: The purpose of dialogue communities is to provide a constructivist structure for students to engage with one another and create new learning. Dialogue communities help students to dig deeply into key concepts and texts in a way that is democratic and less instructor-directed. It also allows them the opportunity to create and codify – rather than receive – new knowledge. Procedure: 1. Instructor provides introduction to the topic or concept under examination. This may occur on the day of the dialogue community itself or during the previous class. 2. The dialogue community begins with students reading (and annotating) a short piece of text, viewing a short video, expressing agreement or disagreement with a series of statements, or engaging in some other short introductory activity. (5 minutes) 3. All members of the group have the opportunity to share reactions, pose questions, or express wonderings. (5 minutes) 4. The group leader makes note of these as the participants speak and identifies a theme or focus question(s) for further discussion. Before continuing, he/she checks with the group to determine if all agree that the question is worthy of further discussion. (3 minutes) 5. The group discusses the theme or focus question under consideration. Participants are encouraged to draw upon their experiences, prior knowledge, and text(s) under examination. Participants are encouraged to ask clarifying and probing questions to better understand their colleagues’ ideas. (15 minutes) 6. Either as a group or as a whole class, students have the opportunity to reflect and share their new thinking about the concept or topic under study, and how it relates to their professional identities as teachers. (10 minutes) Notes and Considerations: • Dialogue communities should consist of groups of 4-5 students. • When using the dialogue community structure, one student should take the role of group leader. Their job is to ensure that all group members are adhering to class norms, to synthesize the initial theme or focus question, and to pose additional questions if discussion stagnates. • If there is a particular question that the course instructor wants to make sure all groups discuss or consider, he/she may introduce it before dialogue groups begin their discussions. • The instructor must provide for some way for students to codify their new thinking during the debrief. Social media (WikiSpace, Jing, Weebly) may be a good space for this.
Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved • SanfordInspire.org
Socratic Circles1 (Back to Table of Contents)
Time Required: 60-75 minutes Purpose: The purpose of Socratic Seminar is to create a structured opportunity for students to engage in critical, collaborative dialogue. The inner circle engages in a dialogical exchange where students explore and complicate a pedagogical concept or topic through the use of critical reading and questioning. The outer circle observes the behavior of the inner circle and provides feedback on how ideas are communicated, with the goal of helping all participants to become more rigorous, respectful, and democratic in the way that they communicate and examine ideas. Procedure: 7. The instructor chooses a text to use as the subject for a Socratic seminar. The “text” may be an article, an excerpt from an article, a video clip, or an audio recording. The text should be thematically connected to a concept that the instructor wants students to explore as part of the course. 8. Prior to the class in which the Socratic Seminar will take place, students read and carefully annotate (or take notes on) the text. The instructor may frame the reading of the text with an essential question, or merely urge students to track their thoughts or reactions as they read or watch. If an essential question is used, it should be intentionally open-ended. 9. On the day the Socratic Seminar is to take place, the desks or tables in the room should be arranged into two circles. An “inner circle” where the dialogue will take place, and an “outer circle” where students will observe for the purpose of providing feedback. 10. At the beginning of class the instructor should evenly divide students into two groups and place them in the respective outer and inner circles. 11. The instructor offers an initial question to focus the inner circle and begin their dialogue. A good initiating initial should be open ended and allow for many different responses. 12. The inner circle engages in dialogue for a specific length of time. While the initial question (from the instructor) may serve as a starting point, participants are encouraged to pose questions of their own and ask questions based on their colleagues’ comments. During this time, members of the outer circle take notes on the behaviors of the members of the inner circle, trends in the conversation, and conversational moves that are made. (15-20 minutes) 13. At the end of the inner circle’s discussion, the members of the outer circle share their feedback. Feedback should focus on how ideas were presented and communicated rather than what was said. (10-15 minutes) 14. After the outer circle finishes sharing its feedback, the members of each group switch. The inner circle becomes the outer circle and vice-versa.
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This protocol was adapted from Socratic Circles (2005) by Matt Copeland. Used with permission. Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved • SanfordInspire.org
Notes and Considerations: If members of the inner circle are reluctant to talk: • The instructor can ask participants to explore their comfort level as part of the opening question: “I’m sensing that some of the ideas contained the text are making people uncomfortable to share. What makes these issues uncomfortable to discuss?”) • The instructor can offer another question that forces participants to connect the text to their own experience: “When you first read/viewed this text, what did it make you think about or remind you of?” • Direct students to a specific part of the text and follow with an open-ended question: “How did people react to the passage where it said…” If members of the inner circle are overly focused on specific details of the text rather than the ideas being presented: • Ask students to synthesize ideas or takeaways from the text as a whole. • Ask students to consider a piece of information in the article from an alternative perspective: “If you were the parent of a child with special needs, how might you feel about…?” If one (or a few) students seem to be monopolizing conversation: • Redirect the conversation with a different, open-ended question. • If it is a pervasive problem, speak to the student outside of class. To initiate discussion among members of the outer circle: • You may allow participants of the outer circle to track their thoughts using a feedback form (see attached) • The outer circle may begin by rating the inner circle’s dialogue on a scale of 1-10, with each member giving a specific piece of feedback as to why. • Outer circle feedback should note observations and trends from the dialogue itself, as well as suggestions for how to improve the quality of dialogue in future Socratic Seminars. To Prepare Students to Engage With This Structure: • Share the Socratic Seminar rubric with students to help them build an understanding of expectations for this activity.
Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved • SanfordInspire.org
