Reflections On Teaching And Learning In Socratic Harkness Classes
During Visits to Harkness Classrooms at Phillips Exeter Academy and Lawrenceville School, I made careful notes as to the types of comments students and teachers made during the class. Take a look below and what do you notice? (Every comment from a teacher was a question. Students posed questions- and also expressions of frustration as they engaged in deep learning.)The work represents a shift along the continuum from teacher-directed (lecture) to teacher-facilitated (Socratic questioning) to student-driven (authentic) learning.It suggests- and demands- new roles for both teachers and students: Teachers must “step back” and students must “step up” to take on new roles in the classroom. We must scaffold this new learning for both teachers and students and give individuals opportunity to practice with one anotherThis approach deepens learning by asking and answering powerful open-ended questions that require critical thinking responses, not by focusing on closed–ended questions that are based on facts and yes/no answers. It cultivates the skills inquiry- based and constructivist learning, higher level thinking skills, tolerance, respect, deep listening and creativity. This methodology is inclusive, congruent with recent developments in brain science and grounded in equity for all.Some key adages: “Don’t tell what you can ask” and “Don’t explain what can be discovered” Observations on Teacher and Student Comments in Harkness Classrooms- Fall Visits 2016
| PHYSICS CLASS TEACHER COMMENTS | PHYSICS CLASS STUDENT COMMENTS | PHYSICS CLASS OBSERVATIONS |
| “We need to develop the tools to understand this concept” | “oh..that is cool” | Students come in confused about a difficult physics concept |
| “Christina, what do you think? Does this idea make senses?” | I’m kinda confused, and I am wondering if someone could explain this to me” | |
| “ make a crude sketch and then share it with your neighbor- what do you notice?” | Students work in pairs to share ideas | |
| “John, do you want to respond to Claire’s comment?” | John is thinking… he responds | |
| “If I understood you correctly, Claire, you said…” | ||
| “I would love to hear some other voices from around the table… Where are you with this, Ella?” | One student gets up” I have an idea!” and puts his work on the board for all to see and respond to- the teacher does not interrupt their conversation | |
| “Do you have a picture? | “I think I have an idea, but I am not really sure” | |
| “Alex, what was one of your angles?” | The teacher did not put the hw on the board- he reminded the students to check the class website | |
| BIOLOGY CLASS TEACHER COMMENTS | BIOLOGY CLASS STUDENT COMMENTS | BIOLOGY CLASS OBSERVATIONS |
| “Lets begin by generating a list of questions you have about the enzyme lab we had yesterday” | Students work in pairs to generate questions from yesterday’s lab | The only posters- and indeed, all the visuals in the room were QUESTIONS |
| “What do you see in your lists?” | Students put up questions on the board and identify similarities in all lists | Students are interacting with each other- teacher is moving around the room watching students work, but not talking |
| “What do you think are the important parts of an introduction to a lab report | Students work in pairs to brainstorm ideas in answer to this question | Teacher does not give hand out a template for a lab report- students need to figure out the criteria for this themselves |
| 9TH AND 10TH GRADE HISTORY TEACHER COMMENTS | 9TH AND 10TH GRADE HISTORY STUDENT COMMENTS | 9TH AND 10TH GRADE HISTORY OBSERVATIONS |
| The teacher begins the class:” Who wants to begin the discussion today with an observation about the reading?” | “ I want to raise a question about paragraph #2 on page 137” | The teacher speaks only three times in class- she takes notes but does not respond |
| “How might you read the response on page 135 to the previous reading we looked at?” | “ Selena, your comment leads me to another question” | Students drive the entire conversation- citing text references with most comments |
| “Back to Nick’s point earlier..” | There are no devices in sight | |
| “I agree with Tim, but I have another question.” | Teacher does not indicate how she feels by using body language or smiling- she just listens | |
| “ I am confused. What is Zionism anyway?” | Teacher does not respond- students answer the question | |
| “So we are fully sympathetic to the Palestinians. But what is the counterargument”? | “On page 226… in the middle of the second paragraph there is another argument” | The teacher only spoke three times and each time was a higher level question |
| “So how do these political posters fit into Great Britain’s relationship with Israel in 1945? | ||
| 9th GRADE MATH CLASS TEACHER COMMENTS | 9th GRADE MATH CLASS STUDENT COMMENTS | 9th GRADE MATH CLASS OBSERVATIONS |
| “ It is not about the answers, it is about the reasoning” | Can I use a calculator on the next test?” | Students take turns putting hw problems on the board and sharing their answers- whether they finished the problem or not. |
| All problems are story problems- and have direct application to real life | ||
| SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS TEACHER COMMENTS | SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS STUDENT COMMENTS | SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS OBSERVATIONS |
| What was one illuminating observation you can make about the main character (in Salvage the Bones)? | students read from the text, referencing specific paragraphs and sentences | All students are engaged and paying attention to each other |
| What are some of the dots in this story? ANALYSIS What are some of the connections between the dots we need to make? SYNTHESIS | “ I am wondering about.”“ I was kind of confused by this passage (cites the passage) Can anyone explain this to me?” | Students do not look at the teacher when talking- they look at each other |
| “I love what you are saying. can you tell us more?” | “I wonder if these two things are related?” | |
| “I love the way that you are working to connect the dots so far. what else do we need to consider?” | “ I am going to predict that…” | The teacher is a co- learner |
| “What are your questions? What are your confusions? What are you wondering about? List these when you read for hw and bring them to the table for our next discussion.” | Teacher answers every question with another question | |
| 9th and 10th GRADE HISTORY TEACHER COMMENTS | 9th and 10th GRADE HISTORY TEACHER COMMENTS | 9th and 10th GRADE HISTORY OBSERVATIONS |
| “ Lets begin by sharing the paragraph you wrote with a partner and work together to come up with a question we can address in class” | “I have question for Tom, Tom what do you think?” | Students go directly to the text to support their points |
| “Do you think that our perspective of informs our interpretation of this text? If so, how?” | “I want to refer to a previous point that Jane made” | Students do not look at the teacher when they are talking; they look at each other |
| “Let’s hear from some people who have not spoken” | The teacher does not praise students by saying good job” etc | |
| The teacher shows propaganda posters from 1950’s China and asks questions:What details do you see in this poster and what might they mean?How do you know? How does this relate to what you have learned from our readings? What is the overall feeling that you get when you see this poster? What do you think is the target audience for this poster? What is the message of the poster? | The teacher does not summarize the discussion at the end The teacher’s questions are all open ended questions that require critical thinking skills Teacher does not praise or comment upon student observations… .she listens intently | |
| SENIOR ENGLISH CLASSReading Notes From the Underground) TEACHER COMMENTS | SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS Reading Notes From the Underground STUDENT COMMENTS | SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS Reading Notes From the Underground OBSERVATIONS |
| What do you think that this means? | “ I have no idea” | Students are VERY confused about this difficult text |
| Let’s go back to the original question..” | “This is really confusing to me.” | Students are looking to the teacher for answers and explanation |
| How does this passage relate to the monologue at the start?” | “What does the author mean in this passage?” | The teacher never answers the students’ questions… he tries different ways of raising additional questions to get them to come to their own conclusions- THEY ARE FRUSTRATED! |
| “How does one passage relate to another?” | “ Is the voice of the author the same as the voice of the Underground Man?” | The teacher tells a powerful person story that relates to a character in the text- students are riveted. |
| “What is the author’s purpose?” | ||
| “ Throw your question out to the table if you are confused” | ||
| “That is a great question, so why is suffering the sole cause of consciousness. what do you think?” | ||
| “This passage that you pointed out seems to be a fruitful place to begin to answer your question. Let’s dive into it.” | ||
| “ One question that I want to ask is…” |
The Harkness Pedagogy and the Socrates Cafe gatherings faclitated by Students Lead to More Authentic Student Engagement and Deep Learning
What do we know about learning and strategies that help students learn most? The Principles of Learning indicate that:
- Individuals learn best when they are involved in the learning process
- How a learner organizes knowledge influences how he/she learns
- Learning is social and emotional
- Learners need to make connections between what they have learned and its application to the world at large
- Learning is better retained when people have an understanding of he information and how to apply it
- Prior knowledge may help or hinder learning
- Learning must be reinforced
- Learning must be applied to new experiences to gain understanding
- Feedback enhances the learning process
- A learner's interest in a topic ( how relevant is this to one's life?) determines how well and quick a student might learn more materials.
- Take a look at the chart below: the Harkness Pedagogy and the Socrates Cafe gatherings led by students lead to more authentic student engagement and deep learning
http://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/learning/principles-of-learning/learning-pyramid/