SOCRATES Principles of adult learning The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance The unexamined life is not worth living Socrates engages would be learners in elenctic argument to make them aware of their own ignorance and enable them to discover for themselves the truth the teacher had held back. Nehams, A. (1998) The Art of Living. Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California p. 63

Historical background  Born 470 BC  Lived during Golden Age of Greece  Serves with valour in Peloponnesian War  Married, 8 children  Declared wisest man by Oracle at Delphi  Is put on trial

Socrates on Trial Typical Athenian youth

Group Questions 1. What might be a possible questioning path for Socrates if the youth’s situation was complicated by the fact that it was a friend who offered to sell him the chariot? 2. ‘I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.’ Why do you think that this was a basis for Socrates’ teaching methods? 3. ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ How do you think this fits into teaching methodology today? 4. What do you believe is the difference between a teacher and a student? 5. What value do you think society places on education and learning?

Essence of his teachings  Most of what we know about him is from his students  focused on the examination of ethics and virtue believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self- development rather than the pursuit of material wealth  The “Socratic Method” To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions The answers to which gradually distil the answer you seek. "I know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others."  said his wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance:  Socrates was wiser than the wisest because he knew his limits – he knew that he did not know,  while others (politicians, poets, artisans) mistakenly thought they did.

Power of dialogue  Socrates puts an enormous amount of faith in the power dialogue  Back and forth linguistic to find truth  Public and communal  A dialogue is perhaps best understood as a focused attempt by a group of speakers to solve a limited number of problems or to answer a few questions.  Importance of engaging listener in dialogue rather than talking at them.

Virtue  He believed virtue was knowledge;  that no one does wrong willingly, but only out of ignorance; and that  it is better to be wronged than to wrong someone else.  These ideas, particularly the last, which bars retaliation, were quite foreign to the conventional public culture of Athens at the time.  Through education people become virtue

Rational Argument  Socrates emphasized rational argument, concern with one’s soul, and the search for definitions of ethical ideas.  As important as these ideas was his method of engaging in argument, which often involved an ironic stance towards the claims of his interlocutors, known as Socratic irony.

Socrates teaching style  Through his method of powerfully questioning his students, he seeks to guide them to discover the subject matter rather than simply telling them what they need to know.  Similar to Daniel’s Developmental perspective by which learners experience a change in the quality of their thinking rather than the quantity.  Students develop new and enhance understanding and cognitive structures to move beyond their original thinking.

Socrates' teaching style  ‘Effective teachers, therefore must be able to build bridges between learners’ present way of thinking and more desirable ways of thinking.’ Daniel D. Pratt ‘Alternative Frames of Understanding’ in Daniel Pratt (ed.) (1998) Five Perspectives on Teaching in Adult and Higher Education Kreiger: Malabar pp

Implications for educational leaders  Socrates implemented a new way of teaching despite opposition.  Leaders shouldn’t let opposition get in the way of change that improves schools  He opposed the status quo and leaders shouldn’t accept the way things are.  Leaders should challenge the way things have been done.