Difference between revisions of "Socratic Questioning"

{{Term|SOCRATIC QUESTIONING|Socratic questioning (named after Socrates, the classical Greek philosopher) is a systematic and deep form of questioning, expressly meant to help others learn. It usually focuses on fundamental concepts, principles, or problems and aims to challenge assumptions and implicit prejudices, to correct misconceptions and facilitate active learning as well as knowledge construction.

Also known as “dialectical approach”, this type of questioning requires the teacher to pretend ignorance about a given topic in order to acquire learners' knowledge of the subject and enable them to clarify logical implications of ideas in order to verify their validity. Through continuous judging and rephrasing questions, learners improve problem-solving skills, critical thinking and long-term retention of knowledge. <ref> Paul, R. (1993). Critical Thinking: How To Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World: Foundation for Critical Thinking, Santa Rosa, CA; Tools for Teaching, Davis, B.G., Jossey-Bass; San Francisco, 1993. http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm (20 October 2011); http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/socratic/index.html (29 October 2011); http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-socratic-questioning-in-thinking-teaching-learning/522 (29 October 2011)</ref>}}