Socratic Method

Article Review
So far this semester, we’ve discussed a lot of different topics that has stimulated different sensations within us. There were topics that we wouldn’t have imagined if we were not informed and there were also topics that we were already briefly aware. Amongst these intriguing topics, we discussed the many Greek philosophers, including the great Socrates and his impact on the way we think today. Socrates was a very intellectual person who did not consider himself as such. He cherished the simplicities in life and didn’t even consider himself a teacher although many would classify him as such. The main focus in this summary of the article written by Servet Celik is the Socratic Method and dialectic.
Celik writes that Socrates was very widely known and there isn’t a person now who can honestly say that they have never heard of Socrates though they may be unable to explain his theory in detail. Socrates believed in the dialectic which is defined by "the art or practice of examining opinions or ideas logically, often by the method of questions and answers, so as to determine their validity. He (Celik) goes on to explain the basis of the dialectic, which is essentially to push students to think for themselves opposed to just providing them with what is believed to be the correct answers to their questions and thus what Socrates was focused on doing. Socrates would hold discussion initiated around a certain attention grabbing subject and then he would proceed with a question answer type conversation throughout the entire discussion. By doing so, he was able to push the involved individuals to think harder than usual and basically determine their own knowledge or lack thereof.
Socrates believed that there was no teaching actually done but remembering. He believed that we learned by remembering what is already stored in our minds.
Even though Socrates didn’t believe that what he was doing was teaching, we believe that his method is exactly what is required to teach and for students to learn. He had clear and concise objectives and rationales to what is done with a fitting routine to accompany them. Socrates denial to actually teaching would not stand as a whole truth in the sense that in his era, the way that people were taught to learn was by rigorous repetition drills and rote learning. So for a man who insisted that he only knew that he knew nothing, to go around inhis village and ask seemingly harmless questions to the ones who declared that they were wise to only prove that they actually knew nothing, was considered a crime for which the punishment was death.
Celik discussed the four main components to the Socratic Method which are: the text, the questions, the leader and the participants. The text would be from any imaginable resource that could strike conversation. The primary or initiating question would be posed by either the teacher (the leader) or the students (the participants). The leader is normally the teacher who not only guides the course of the discussion but also takes part in it. The participants are the ones who determine the success of the entire discussion by participating and being aware of the text in detail and willing to exchange ideas and comments openly.
The article genuinely points out valid ways to implement the Socratic method into today’s classroom and suggests the improvement of students both scholastically and socially. lf the Socratic method were implemented into the schools there is a chance that we would urge the students to learn or rather, remember, the knowledge that they already have stored but have yet to tap into.



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