The Socratic method uses dialogue to encourage critical thinking as students ask meaningful questions and share thoughtful ideas. After students read and examine a common piece of text, open-ended questions are posed. Open-ended questioning allows students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and express ideas with clarity and confidence. Participants in a Socratic Seminar learn to respond to others with respect by carefully listening and paraphrasing essential elements of another's ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. (author/ncl)

Teachers are often disappointed with the conduct of classroom discussions. They often stray from the topic, introduce extraneous or irrelevant information, or are dominated by the few. Career-technical students should be aware of the importance of the business meeting which is, in reality, a method for a group to come to grips with a problem, gather information, and suggest solutions. While this information is organized around the analysis of a work of literature, career-technical teachers certainly can use the student suggestions, the guidelines, and the rubrics to assist their classes in conducting a Socratic seminar. English/Language Arts teachers should point out that their Socratic Seminars parallel the business meeting and that practicing these techniques has value beyond the classroom.