How to be Socrates
(Or How to Teach with Questions)
Jason Poarch
SDC Rivendell Program Faculty
jmpoarch@rivendellsanctuary.com
聽
“Match tone with music”
“RNA/DNA transcription”
“Track-hoe bucket”
“Build a supercomputer with 25 minds”
“Ricochet Evangelism”
“Jesus’ Questions”
What is the Goal?
“To get answers?”
Not necessarily, but not Relativism either
“To learn how to listen”
“To learn how to explore”
“To learn how to understand”
“To learn how to build a conversation”
Guidelines (for Discussions)
1. (Needed) sizes of groups (4-7, 10-12, 18-20)
2. Reading is crucial to discussion (don’t speak unless you’ve read)
3. Everyone needs to speak at least once
4. Embrace AWKWARD (e.g. silence, awkward emotions, etc.)
5. Ms. Seegler
6. Discern between doubt & curiosity
7. Speak with questions not declarations
8. Reference text when you speak
9. Restate the person’s idea before you speak (“pass the baton,” “follow the
rope”)
10. Answer someone’s question, ask someone a question
11. Close eyes-listen-for entire duration of discussion
12. Depending on size of group: 3 chances to talk
13. Give progressive responsibility to students for leading discussion (know that
you may need to jump back in)
14. Socratic Circles
Guidelines (for Discussions)
15. Ask open-ended questions (shorter the better)
16. Longer discussions are better
17. Equal participation is key
18. Playing “the devil’s advocate” has a place…sometimes
19. Cummulative discussions are important (day, week, semester, year)
20. Levels of trust development (personal discussions difficult in larger groups)
21. Call each other “Mr. _____” or “Ms. ______”
22. Set break times ahead
23. Cell phones distract
24. Beware of need for authoritative input (Lecture/Discussion/Coaching)
25. If source is a good author/thinker, you can have a great discussion (no matter
the topic)
26. “Questions don’t need answers. People need answers.” Abdu Murray
27. The unexamined life is not worth living (Plato)
Questions?
Psychology (at Rivendell)
Context
What is Truth? (Theos)
What is Reality? (Cosmos)
What is Man? (Anthropos)
What is Justice? (Ethnos)
Psychology (Anthropos)
What is Man?
Psychology: How should we view the Dignity, Dysfunctionality, Deliverance,
and Destiny of man?
Fine Arts: How should we view Art’s Monuments, Metaphysics, Meaning, Methods
and Morality?
Sociology: How do Formal Organization, Hierarchical Stratification, Symbolical
Communication and Legal Protection contribute to a Flourishing Social Order?
Psychology (Overview)
• How should we view the Dignity, Dysfunctionality, Deliverance, and
Destiny of man?
Week 1: How have we arrived at our present Psychological understanding of the
nature of man?
Week 2: How should we view the unique dignity of Man in contrast to animals and
angels?
Week 3: How should we view the universal deformity of Man as a creature both
fallen and finite?
Week 4: How should we view an undertaken deliverance of Man minus rebirth for
recovery?
Week 5: How should we view the ultimate destiny of man as to give meaning to life
and labors?
Psychology (Week 1)
How have we arrived at our present Psychological understanding of the nature of
man?
Answer: Through a millennia-long conversation framed by a series of historical
developments, philosophical debates, methodological departures, experimental
discoveries and theological dialogues surrounding the nature of humanity’s
psychosomatic existence
Psychology (Week 2)
How should we view the unique dignity of Man in contrast to animals and angels?
Monday: Human Beings: Beasts from Birth?
Wednesday: Human Capacities: Sources of Self-Esteem?
Friday: Human Soul: Made from Matter?
Psychology (Week 2, Monday)
Human Beings: Beasts from Birth?
Introductory Readings:
“Five Classic Doctrines of Man” by Robert Macleod
“Biological Bases of Behavior” by David G. Myers
“Soul” by Mortimer Adler
“Jung” by Andrew Fuller
Classical Readings:
“On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals” by Thomas Huxley
“What is Man” by B. F. Skinner
“State in which Man Was Created” by John Calvin
Canonical Readings:
Genesis 1-3, 9:1-17
Job 5:6-7, 7:17-18
Psalms 8:1-9, 147:1-3
Isaiah 53:1-12
Jeremiah 17:9
John 1:29, 3:16
Romans 2-8, 10:9-10
I Corinthians 15
II Corinthians 3:12-18
James 3:9
I Peter 2:24-25
I John 1-2
Revelation 21:1-4, 22:1-5
Psychology (Week 2, Monday)
Human Beings: Beasts from Birth?
First Discussion:
How is culture telling us we are like animals?
Man is the Alps of the animal world? (Huxley)
If not a machine, what is man? (Skinner)
Second Discussion:
What are ways humans think of themselves?
How do superheroes influence our thinking?
What is Imago Dei?
Questions?
Guidelines (for Writing)
1. Paper: Begin by asking single question
2. Try not to use secondary sources (primary book, the teacher, and yourself)
3. Build on the question
Guidelines (for Oral Exam)
1. Single simple question
2. Just start talking
3. Don’t argue
4. Build
5. Show interest
6. Ask deeper questions
7. Talk for 30 minutes
Guidelines (for Bible)
1. Read 5 chapters out loud
2. Reflect for 5 minutes in silence
3. Coin a single question reflective of text
4. Hear all questions
5. Decide on one question for discussion
6. Implement Guidelines (for Discussion)
7. Discuss for 30 minutes
Questions?
How to be Socrates
(Or How to Teach with Questions)
Jason Poarch
SDC Rivendell Program Faculty
jmpoarch@rivendellsanctuary.com