The Socratic Classroom

The Socratic Classroom

The Socratic Classroom Reflective Thinking Through Collaborative Inquiry Sarah Davey Chesters Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-94-6091-853-7 (paperback) ISBN: 978-94-6091-854-4 (hardback) ISBN: 978-94-6091-855-1 (e-book) Published by: Sense Publishers, P.O. Box 21858, 3001 AW Rotterdam, The Netherlands https://www.sensepublishers.com/ Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2012 Sense Publishers No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgement vii ix Introduction: Socratic Education: a School of Freedom 1 1. Socratic Pedagogy: Philosophical Inquiry Through Dialogue 11 2. Socratic Pedagogy and Classroom Practice 41 3. Developing the Socratic Classroom: Metaphors of Engagement in Dialogue 75 4. Creative Engagement: Generative Thinking 95 5. Critical Engagement: Evaluative Thinking 113 6. Pedagogical Care: Connective Thinking 129 7. Socratic Pedagogy 155 References 173 Index 183 v

PREFACE This book was written to serve two functions. First it is an exploration of what I have called Socratic pedagogy, a collaborative inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning suitable not only to formal educational settings such as the school classroom but to all educational settings. The term is intended to capture a variety of philosophical approaches to classroom practice that could broadly be described Socratic in form. The term philosophy in schools is ambiguous and could refer to teaching university style philosophy to high school students or to the teaching of philosophy and logic or critical reasoning in senior years of high school. It is also used to describe the teaching of philosophy in schools generally. In the early and middle phases of schooling the term philosophy for children is often used. But this too is ambiguous as the name was adopted from Matthew Lipman s Philosophy for Children curriculum that he and his colleagues at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children developed. In Britain the term philosophy with children is sometimes employed to mark two methods of teaching that have Socratic roots but have distinct differences, namely Philosophy for Children and Socratic Dialogue developed by Leonard Nelson. The use of the term Socratic pedagogy and its companion term Socratic classroom (to refer to the kind of classroom that employs Socratic teaching) avoids the problem of distinguishing between various approaches to philosophical inquiry in the Socratic tradition but also separates it from the study of philosophy, such as university style philosophy or other approaches which place little or no emphasis on collaborative inquirybased teaching and learning. The second function builds from the first. It is to develop an effective framework for understanding the relationship between what I call the generative, evaluative and connective aspects of communal dialogue, which I think are necessary to the Socratic notion of inquiry. In doing so it is hoped that this book offers some way to show how philosophy as inquiry can contribute to educational theory and practice, while also demonstrating how it can be an effective way to approach teaching and learning. This has meant striking a balance between speaking to philosophers and to teachers and educators together, with the view that both see the virtues of such a project. In the strictest sense this book is not philosophy of education, insofar as its chief focus is not on the analysis of concepts or formulation of definitions specific to education with the aim of formulating directives that guide educational practice. It relinquishes the role of philosopher as spectator, to one of philosopher immersed in matter in this case philosophical issues in education, specifically those related to philosophical inquiry, pedagogy and classroom practice. Put another way, it is a book about philosophical education. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I must firstly acknowledge Dr Gilbert Burgh, without whom this book would not have evolved. The ideas developed herein are a result of years of dialogue that reflect a true process of inquiry. My experience of a philosophical approach to teaching and learning as a student provided the impetus for my further inquiry into education as a discipline and philosophy s possible contribution. This book, which is an attempt to capture the pedagogical process introduced to me by Dr Burgh is attributed to him. I would like to formally acknowledge the support given to me both financially and academically from the University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland and Queensland University of Technology with whom I was affiliated during the writing of this book. Particular thanks must go to Alan Rix, Fred D Agostino, Nita Temmerman, Lindsay Parry, Wendy Patton and Annette Patterson. Thanks must also go to Megan Laverty, Philip Cam, Trevor Curnow, and Mia O Brien whose feedback helped to shape this manuscript and to Clare O Farrell who encouraged me to see value in my writing. To the practitioners of philosophical inquiry, in particular Lynne Hinton, Liz Fynes-Clinton, and Rosie Scholl, thank you for continually opening my eyes and demonstrating new ways of seeing philosophy in the classroom. Thank you to the teachers and students I have had the privilege of working with, past and present who have embraced philosophy in their own classrooms, whose continued enthusiasm and commitment means that philosophy will have a place in education in the future. Lastly, to my family and friends who have supported me throughout this process - thank you to my parents and my husband who have always, and continue to encourage, my sense of wonder and who teach me so much about life. Some ideas in this book can be found in condensed form in the following publications and conference proceedings: Davey Chesters, S. (2010). Engagement through dialogue : an exploration of collaborative inquiry and dimensions of thinking. In Brune, Jens Peter, Gronke, Horst, & Krohn, Dieter (Eds.) The Challenge of Dialogue : Socratic Dialogue and Other Forms of Dialogue in Different Political Systems and Cultures (pp. 73 96). LIT-Verlag, Munster; Davey Chesters (2009, 3 6 December) Technologies of Silence. Paper presented at the Dialogue and Difference Conference, Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, Hawaii; Davey, S. (2004). Consensus, Caring and Community: An Inquiry into Dialogue. Analytic Teaching, 25(1), 18 51; Davey, S. (2005, 14 16 July). Creative, Critical and Caring Engagements: Philosophy through Inquiry. Paper presented at the Creative Engagements Conference; Thinking with Children Conference, Oxford University. Thank you to the editors for their permission to include this work. ix