Teacher Facilitated Instruction: the Socratic Method
In the Socratic Method, the teacher asks deeply probing questions to engage students in critical thinking, encouraging them to come to their own conclusions. This form of teaching is often used in advanced high school electives and college seminars. This pedagogy is dependent upon the teacher asking the students good questions, while in Harkness discussions the students ask the questions and drive the discussion. These approaches to dialogue, while related, are often confused. On this page are some good resources for teaching using the Socratic Method.