Using Socratic Questioning Skills in Accordance with Chapter 6

One key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is so that they are not misrepresented in a classroom setting. Every person has a voice and needs a chance to develop and use that voice which is unique to that person. Socrates believed that asking the right questions would allow anyone to learn. In this instance Socrates would say that the right questions being asked would allow a person's voice to come to the surface and voice their own opinions and insights about the topic being discussed.

A second key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to see other people's points of view. Everyone generally analyzes information based on their own experiences and knowledge. Knowledge branches from all sorts of different places other than experiences. For example some information is innate and some information is learned by reading about other people's experiences and life. Students see the benefits of learning about other people's ideas, opinions, and points of view and wish to continue growing and learning about new ideas about perceiving information. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find different points of view and had a group of students follow him so that they could also learn from the various points of views that Socrates would encounter.

The third key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to learn information so that they are not ignorant, even if the information doesn't seem useful at the moment the information is learned. All knowledge is worth knowing. Even if a person cannot apply the knowledge, it doesn't mean that the knowledge is worthless. I know the inner workings of a car and how to fix most everything that goes wrong in a car, it doesn't mean that I am willing to or capable of fixing anything that goes wrong in a car. Knowledge is power, since I know the inner workings of a car, when something does go wrong I know how to relay the problem to the mechanics so that they can fix the problem and not go poking around doing more work than need be. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find all that he could possibly know, because all knowledge is worth having. The students that recognize this reason are knowledge seekers, they want to know more and more information. Students of this thinking level would benefit mostly by being given work to do on their own but also in their own way. If students are knowledge seekers then allow them to do research assignments so that they can find what they are looking for, answers to their own questions.

If students are given real life scenarios in which the information is connected the topic for one would be more interesting. As a teacher I want to teach students life lessons, that is one of my main goals as an English teacher. Literature is not just stories or useless information recorded over centuries of time. Literature is full of life lessons and characters that represent real life situations. If students can understand the situations being addressed and brought up in literature than they can apply them to their own lives. Furthermore students need to see how the information could benefit them in their own lives. If a student cannot apply the knowledge being learned than what good is the information that is being gained? My honors biology teacher taught life lessons when ever he taught us about a topic. He made biology fun for me and showed me how the information he was teaching could pertain to me. Students need that sort of connection, they benefit from the lessons more if they see how they can apply the information to their own lives. Some students don't want to make the effort and see the connection but then it is up to the teacher to have to bridge the gap for the student and show them the connection and how they will benefit. Socrates always taught students to apply information to their own life. There isn't anything Socrates taught children that he didn't incorporate into his own life.

Although learning seems to be an individual process every person needs to interact with others as well. Sometimes people learn more from their peers than they do an authoritarian. When I was in high school we only had lecture classes, I never had a discussion in a class until I went to college. I saw the benefits of learning from more than just the teacher. Everyone has their own experiences and filter system that knowledge gets funneled down to. Hearing other people's perspectives and experiences are important to any learning experience. Another student might have an answer to a question where as I may not have an answer. I would create an atmosphere where students would feel comfortable and free to talk so that as many experiences as possible would be shared in order to connect to the literature. I would have discussion classes so that students can share their ideas, knowledge, and perspectives with the class. I believe that creating a contact zone is important for students to get the most out of the information being learned. Questioning not only the characters and the author, but also questioning where the ideas from the author is coming from. Therefore, my "social thing" in a classroom would be classroom discussions where everyone would be free to voice their opinions and ideas about the information. Students need to be comfortable with one another in order to have a successful discussion. I would make the atmosphere a "safe house" for students, and I would make that clear in my set up of the classroom rules on the first day of class.

The alternative to making a "social thing" in the classroom would be having lectures. Always being the authoritarian and not allowing any other perspective to enter into the information being taught. Now how boring and closed minded is that? Very. I do believe that a lecture at the beginning of a topic is needed, but again not all the time. Sometimes opening the topic out with a discussion class is a good idea and definitely a good way to eliminate perceived notions about the topic. However comparing literary themes in British literature to literary themes in American literature would probably need a lecture so that the students would understand the time periods, names, and key themes associated with each country.

Everybody benefits from a job well done, but students need the extra encouragement. Most students don't know what they are capable of doing until they are pushed to those very limits. I know that I push myself beyond my own limits, but occasionally it is nice to have a professor push me beyond even the limits I cannot see are in front of me. Students see the amount of work a teacher expects out of them, and they panic. Students don't necessarily need hand holding, but they do need encouragement and coaxing in order to achieve their highest goals in a learning environment.

Student motivation can come in many forms. For one, if students are given a choice as to which books they get to read for the semester they might be inclined to read as opposed to having a book forced upon them. Many students claim that they want to make some choices as to what they get to learn in a classroom. Learning does come easier if a student is interested in a particular topic or book as opposed to being forced to learn something that they really are not interested in. This is also why connecting the information to the student's personal life is important, if a student sees how the information impacts their own life than they will want to know more about the topic or situation. The goal as a teacher is to motivate students to want to know about a topic or situation. In gaining the interest of the students the teacher's job is made a little easier and then needs to find numerous ways of getting the information across to the students to keep them interested in the topic. Some students are self motivated and have their own interests that they would like to bring into class and bridge a connection from what the student's interest is to the situation being discussed in the classroom. Thus as I stated, motivation comes in many forms. However students need to be motivated in order to learn anything.