A New, More Inclusive Approach to Socratic Teaching
By Jamie Abrams, author of Inclusive Socratic Teaching: Why Law Schools Need It and How to Achieve It
This end of the academic year feels uniquely unmoored. It is the season in which faculty are visited by the ghosts of pedagogy past, present, and pedagogy yet to come. The ghosts of pedagogy past reveal all the content that we should have reviewed again and all of the exam-writing strategies we should have delivered. We look back and see our content delivery in a new, exposed, raw light. We see the powerful difference between what we taught students and what students learned. We see who our pedagogy left behind and we can reflect on why. The ghosts of pedagogy present are also visiting faculty to remind us of all the grading we should be doing to meet rigorous grade submission deadlines. The ghost of pedagogy present reveals the harsh professional demand to grade quickly, fairly, and thoroughly. Finally, the ghost of pedagogy yet to come reminds us that we have a syllabus yet to finish, a course site to design, and formative assessments to write. This is a time of great pedagogical reflection. We can choose to make this haunting or transformative.
Like the Charles Dickens seasonal favorite, we too can harness this dizzying time warp of self-reflection for good. We can seize these three reflective lenses to build a more meaningful pedagogy that solidifies our values, makes teaching more meaningful, and meets the needs of our students.
In Inclusive Socratic Teaching: Why Law Schools Need It and How to Achieve It, I conclude that the Socratic classroom is not irredeemable. Rather, it needs clear values driving it forward. Unlike clinical teaching, legal research and writing, and experiential learning, Socratic teachers do not have a shared pedagogy of what effective Socratic teaching is or a community sharing ideas, materials, approaches, adaptations. This can leave the Socratic method – like Scrooge – focused on all the wrong things – centering just one voice (the professor), reinforcing power and hierarchy, and racking and stacking students.
Inclusive Socratic Teaching proposes a pedagogy to frame Socratic classrooms in student-centered, skills-centered, client-centered, and community-centered ways. It provides concrete ideas for how to use the Socratic method with purpose and transparency. Simple tweaks of Socratic style can prepare students – not just to think like a lawyer – but to be a lawyer actively. Improved transparency regarding use of the Socratic method can help students use Socratic dialogue as formative assessment and bridge Socratic classes into other pedagogies, catalyzing other curricular innovations.
A read of Inclusive Socratic Teaching can ensure that Socratic classrooms are not a humbug, but rather students have an inclusive and equitable learning environment . . . “every one”!
About the Author
is Professor of Law and Director of the Legal Rhetoric Program at American University Washington College of Law. She has won numerous awards for her legal education pedagogy innovations, which are reflected in her many published casebooks, skills books, and scholarly articles.