“Philosophy begins in wonder…and wonder comes when one has an awareness of his own ignorance.” – Socrates
Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, in contrast to the sophists who prevailed in Athens at that time, taught for the sake of the educational process itself. Education was undertaken for more than the sole purpose of learning specific skills, applicable to a career, rather it was a life-long endeavour.[1] The Socratic method, with its continued line of questioning would not rely on simple yes/no answers, but was a process of self-revelation of ignorance or limited knowledge of the student. Thereby it encouraged students to develop intellectual humility.
Socratic Questioning
“Socratic Questioning is disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions, including to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to distinguish what we know from what we don’t know and to follow out logical implications of thought.”[2] In the process, the student is able to, through reasoning, eliminate issues such as prejudices, biases, ill-conceived notions, fears, anxieties or negativity. But this is only one of the several advantages.
Teachers, students or anyone keen to think at a deep level can construct Socratic questions. It can be used to probe student thinking, without generating anxiety or fear in them, to assess the extent of their knowledge on a given topic or issue. The final aim of such questioning is “to learn the discipline so that students can use it to reason through complex issues” and use this powerful tool in everyday life as well. The student develops a questioning mind and cultivates deep learning.
Socratic Questioning is not a process by which passive students fill their minds with facts and truths, acquired through study. The teacher or parent, asks probing questions to examine values, principles and beliefs of the students, rather than become purveyors of knowledge. Therein lies the difference between instruction by a teacher and Socratic Questioning.
Why are Questions Important?
Thinking is driven by questions and deep questions drive our thought underneath the surface of things, forcing us to deal with complexity.[3] The focus of our learning has always been on answers and rarely on the question. Ironically, it is with the questions that the thinking gets deeper and we are able to get to the foundation. The authors assert – had no questions been asked by those who laid the foundation for a field – for example physics or biology, the field would have never been developed in the first place.
Socratic Questioning and Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning according to Kolb (1984), is the integration of a) Knowledge – the concepts, facts and information acquired through formal learning and past experience; b) activity – the application of knowledge to a “real world” setting and c) reflection – the analysis and synthesis of knowledge and activity to create new knowledge. It is often described as “Learning by Doing”.
Authors Schultz et al (1995), remark that both these methodologies are appropriate in particular circumstances but “in combination they are an outstanding method of embodying students with the thirst to seek continued knowledge, and acquire certain skills that could be applied to their intended profession.”
Research Findings – Student Attitudes towards Science
Where Do I Start? A systematic approach to answering this question would require an understanding of students’ attitude towards science. An umbrella definition of “attitude” that has generally been accepted is a “psychological tendency, expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour”.[4] Findings show that the age 8-13 is a crucial period as far as development of attitudes towards science for primary school children.[5] Further, a positive attitude towards science significantly impacts the motivation to learn it in school and outside of it, going as far as affecting student choices in later life.
Research on Primary School Children, across various countries, reveals the following about their attitude towards science: the unerring influence of the teacher on the child’s proclivity to learn the subject; the recognition of science being important; the perception of the science class as being “a fun experience” and general interest in conducting experiments.[6] Teacher’s role being all-important – findings reveal that students were positively influenced by diverse ways of teaching and involving pupils in active learning, rather than a didactic methodology.
The belief in one’s capacity to successfully perform a particular task is one of the most potent predictors of how well a person will perform at almost any endeavour, referred to as self-efficacy. Thus, use of materials and equipment to accomplish a said task, which is a unique opportunity afforded by science, provides the window to enhance self-efficacy. Research reveals that students’ self-concept of ability in science, has a crucial influence on attitude towards science classes and science in general.[7]
Studies have so far revealed that gender has also been a factor in influencing student attitude towards science, across all age-groups. While in primary school, boys and girls with equal gusto reported that learning science is important and relevant to their life, this opinion significantly tapered down in the case of girls, once they reached High School. It was also revealed that students perceived that science and science-related careers as “more suitable for boys”.
Research by OECD in late 2000s threw light on the pupils’ perception of science being that: it is important, helpful and useful for future life. Despite this finding there has also been a decline in a genuine interest in the subject. It is increasingly being viewed as a tool for success, of being a “prestigious subject” and in many cases “a subject pursued by the smarter ones”.
Findings also show that students often suffer from “science anxiety” and regard “science as inherently cold, unfriendly and negative toward the individual”. This anxiety can seriously impede a student’s learning.[8]
How Does Socratic Questioning help the Child in Science Learning?
The question that emerges from the above research findings, is: Is science and science learning understood for its true worth and if yes, where does a student begin learning? Can “answering the question – Where Do I Start?”, be approached in a systematic way, such that, any ill-conceived notions, biases and anxieties can be replaced by more constructive thinking. Indeed, is a change in thinking required in some cases, a “Cognitive Restructuring”, as psychology would term it? While some psychologists believe that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, “Socratic Questioning” in particular, is a useful tool, in bringing about a change in thinking others believe it does more than that, it leads to self-discovery. Such discovery will ensure that learning science commences on the right note, for the right reasons and is an enriching experience for the student.
How to Construct Socratic Questions
As a start, we use this tool in answering the question – “Where Do I Start?”, with specific reference to science learning; probing questions can assist the student in determining where they stand currently and therefore lead them to answers.
Questions being open-ended, answers would vary based on the student, revealing their opinions, beliefs, attitudes, values, preferences with regard to learning science. One approach to Socratic Questioning, to raise the level of thinking to higher understanding and quality, would pertain to classifying questions into the following categories: a) analyzing thought; b) assessing thought; c) analyzing questions by preference, fact and judgement and d) developing prior questions.[9] An example:
1) Analyzing Thought: Questioning Goals and Purposes – In trying to understand where to start learning science, it is important to first understand why one wants to learn science. While studying science is a requirement in the curriculum, any additional means of acquiring science education, such as interactive mobile applications, online classes, hands-on projects, purchase of science kits with DIY experiments, would have a purpose. When the question is posed to the student, the response would unravel the inner working of the child’s mind and the learning would aim at the real needs of the child. Why do you want to learn science?
a. Student Response 1: To understand the world better and the science behind its working;
b. Student Response 2: To better grasp science concepts through experiments, I don’t understand theory;
c. Student Response 3: To come together with peers or family and engage in science activities as a past time as I love science;
d. Student Response 4: To develop and sustain an interest in science through novel activities, rather than just classroom instruction, as I am unable to find it interesting otherwise;
e. Student Response 5: To learn in a specific kind of environment which will aid rather than impede learning. For example: I prefer learning in a group;
This process of questioning goes on further, till we arrive at a comprehensive understanding of where the child stands in terms of science learning and get insights into “Where Do I Start?” Further questioning could involve[10]:
Questions of Information – which force us to look at our source and quality of information
Questions of Interpretation – which force us to examine how we are organizing or giving meaning to information and finding alternative ways of giving meaning
Questions of assumptions – which force us to examine, what we are taking for granted
Questions of Implication – which force us to follow out where our thinking is going
Questions of point of view – which force us to examine our point of view and to consider other relevant points of view
Questions of relevance – which force us to discriminate between what does and what does not bear on a question
Christine A Padesky, a leading cognitive therapy innovator, speaks about changing minds vis-à-vis engaging in a process of self-discovery through Socratic Questioning.[11] A natural question that comes up for most people is, is there a standard set of good questions to ask? Her answer is to engage in those questions which lead to a process of self-discovery for the client, in this case it being a student. Changing minds is directed while self-discovery is owned by the child.
In this article, we have attempted to understand several key factors in a child’s science learning and specifically drawn attention to developing the power of critical thinking and deep probing through Socratic Questioning. Research highlights the importance of hands-on experience in the field of science to engage a student and therefore makes the case for a combination of Socratic Questioning and Experiential Learning very strong. Do they work in a complementary way and how, is an area for further exploration.
[1] C.Schultz, T.Schultz and O’Brien, 1995
[2] Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning, 2016
[3] R.Paul and L.Elder, 1998
[4] Eagly & Chaiken (2007) – Cited in Bohner & Dickel, 2011
[5] Ormerod & Duckworth, 1975 in Pell and Jarvis, 2001 – Cited in Agranovich & Assaraf, 2013
[6] Agranovich & Assaraf, 2013
[7] Haladyna, Olsen & Shaughnessy, 1982; George, 200 – Cited in Agranovich & Assaraf, 2013
[8] Helge Kastrup and Jeffry V Mallow, Student Attitudes, Student Anxieties and How to Address them – A Handbook for Science Teachers
[9] Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning, 2016
[10] R.Paul and L.Elder, 1998
[11] A Padesky, 1993
