Heather and others, 

I'd recommend Hegel's dialectic (thesis/antithesis/synthesis)  instead
which is the basis for much of modern thought.  

 

The Socratic method perpetuates the power inequity between teachers and
students which, outside of a martial arts dojo, doesn't have any place
in contemporary education.

 

The dialectic is the basis for the modern concepts  and practices of
negotiation which David Rosen pointed out in his post (see 2331).

 

Michael Tate

 

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Heather
Heunermund
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:26 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 2339] Re: Questioning and
DiscussionStrategies for Practicing Critical Thinking

 

I mean this in a respectful way and I state the following as such: I beg
you all, if you truly want to understand Socratic dialogue, you can only
go to the source, Plato. Read a Socratic dialogue and let's discuss.
Understand the man is fabled to have been Socrates. Again, that's the
only true way to understand this concept, to grok it. This virtue is not
something that can be "taught."

 

As part of the "educational community" you simply cannot settle for
anything less. Ironically, you yourselves are not acting as critical
thinkers by settling for less than this. If you want to truly practice
what you preach about critical thinking and Socratic Dialogue, the only
way to act as a critical thinkers yourselves is through your experience
with original source work, and not merely the regurgitations of people's
interpretations of the classics of the Western Canon.

 

To do otherwise is a bastardization of the art form in the strict sense
of the word.

--

Heather

 

Heather Heunermund, Executive Director

New Mexico Coalition for Literacy

1-800-233-7587

heather at nmcl.org

505-982-4095 (fax)

3209 Mercantile Ct. Ste. B

Santa Fe, NM 87507

 

On Jul 17, 2008, at 9:21 AM, Taylor, Jackie wrote:





Dear Colleagues,

One more note about critical thinking...For those seeking ideas for
questioning techniques in practicing critical thinking and for
facilitating group discussions:

 

1.	Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning is a systematic, probing method of questioning that
probes thinking at a deep level. It can be used to explore thought in
various directions such as in exploring complex ideas, to open up issues
or problems, uncover assumptions, analyze concepts, distinguish what's
understood versus what is not, and follow out logical implications:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning

 

Here are some examples of Socratic questions:

http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm

 

 

2.	On Questioning and Group Discussions

Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher

http://stephenbrookfield.com/pdf_files/BCRT_Wkshp_Pkt.pdf

This workshop resource from Stephen Brookfield contains lots of
strategies on facilitating critical reflection and discussion with
students, in professional development, in meetings, and in modeling
critical thinking.

 

Best, Jackie

 

Jackie Taylor, PD List Moderator, jataylor at Utk.edu

 

 

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