The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Education & Reference

synopsis

Synopsis

Do You Have 21st-Century Skills to Help Your Students Succeed? Do Your Students Have 21st-Century Skills to Think for Themselves? The Power of the Socratic Classroom has the answers you are looking for—answers that will supply the strategies to show students how to succeed into the future. A future that has unknown products, unidentified jobs, and unanticipated challenges. In Socratic Seminar, teachers shift to the role of facilitator, where they help their students develop the collaborative interpersonal skills, the critical and creative thinking skills, and the speaking and listening skills to face the upcoming challenges of the 21st century.

bio

Author Biography

Charles Fischer has taught in public and private schools in a variety of settings, from rural Maine to inner city Atlanta. In the past 20 years, he has worked with a wide range of students from 4th grade to AP English and has been nominated for Teacher of the Year four times. He has his Master’s degree in Teaching & Learning from the University of Southern Maine, and received his B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Binghamton University. His latest book, The Power of the Socratic Classroom, has won four awards, including the NIEA Best Education Book. His first novel, Beyond Infinity, won a 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award bronze medal (YA fiction). His areas of expertise are Socratic Seminar, Active Listening, Inquiry, Teaching & Learning, and Critical & Creative Thinking. He is currently working on a book of poetry, a short story collection, and several novels.

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Author Insight

The Role of Clarifier

This role is extremely important to help students develop academic language and thinking skills. Being a clarifier often involves more teacher engagement that some people are used to. Often, teachers start SocratiC Seminars by sitting outside the circle, being just an observer. This is great practice to get things started, but eventually the students need additional guidance. This is why I usually recommend that teachers eventually go back into the dialogue circle.

Book Excerpt

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Once the students are regularly asking questions, the facilitator can then focus on and model the role of clarifier. In this role, the teacher focuses on listening carefully to the students and using follow-up questions to help students answer more accurately, more eloquently and more succinctly. In this role, the facilitator does not allow sloppy thinking or misinterpretations to slip by. In this role it is extremely important to insist on exact meanings of words.

When the students are asking follow-up questions for clarity, when they are demanding greater accuracy, asking their peers for page numbers and citations, then the facilitator can move to the role of coach. A main teacher action here is active listening.

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Charles Ames Fischer

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

The Role of Clarifier

Book Excerpt

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Comment on this Bubble