reasoning, logical conclusions, and to elicit correct answers from the student.
educators on the
Socratic Method:
Myrna McCulloch
Marva Collins
Andrew Kern
Angelicum Academy
An Experiment
Teaching Better
THE ART OF QUESTIONING
One of the best ways to stimulate thinking in the intellects of our students is through skillful questioning. As someone
said, "The teacher’s fish-hook is the interrogation point, for with his questions he angles in the minds of his scholars
for facts, conclusions, inferences and judgments —the results of all mental processes. …But to be most effective,
questions must be well made." When the teacher does most of the talking, the minds of the students are apt to
remain more or less inactive. Nothing wakes up the mind more quickly and thoroughly than a direct question. To put
his pupils on the alert, to hold their attention, to arouse their curiosity, to fix truth in their memory and to apply it to
their conscience, to keep them active instead of passive —for all these ends the teacher will find nothing more helpful
than the practice of frequent questioning. Training the pupil to think is one of the chief objects of education; and in
trying to answer questions the pupil is set thinking in order to supply the missing element.
Since good questioning is so important for effective teaching, teachers will strive to acquire this intellectual craft.
Mother Stuart told her teachers that "To acquire the art of questioning was to cultivate a habit of clear expression of
thought. One questions as one talks. Good questioning, like good expositions, is the outcome of habits of clear
thought and precise expression. Here, as elsewhere, general life-habits dominate school-work."
Fr. Kirsch gives good advice in this matter. If the teacher asks a question he expects an answer, and it is evident
therefore that the question should be so worded that an answer is possible. It is a waste of time to ask a pupil
questions that he cannot be expected to answer either because he has never learned the matter, or because the
subject is altogether beyond his capacity. A really good question requires some hard thinking on the part of the
teacher as well as the pupil: on the part of the teacher, because she must seek to ascertain before questioning, what
that pupil can be expected to know; on the part of the pupil, because he must set his mind working in order to find the
answer.
The teacher must insist that the pupils answer what was asked for, and not something else that may pertain, perhaps
only in a remote way, to the matter in hand. Nor should the teacher be satisfied with half an answer, or tolerate the
practice of pupils who hide their ignorance by beating about the bush. If the pupil cannot answer, or gives a wrong
answer, the teacher should try, in most cases, to lead him to discover the correct answer. If this is impossible or if it
involves loss of time, then another pupil should be invited to give the answer, though the teacher must still make sure
that the first pupil will get to know the matter.
It is a point of special importance that the answer be given in a complete sentence. We all know from experience how
much easier it is to give one word answers instead of a complete sentence. But consider what is missed, what
valuable opportunities are lost for language training if the teacher is satisfied with single words or with half sentences.
The teacher must furthermore demand grammatical correctness. What improvement shall we ever expect of our
pupils if we allow them to use slang expressions or ungrammatical speech in the schoolroom?
Let the teacher give much time and effort to the acquiring of the difficult art of questioning. Nothing impresses a
visitor to a schoolroom more favorably than the teacher’s ability in this regard. The character and quality of
classroom instruction can, with comparative accuracy, be discovered by a study of the character of the questioning. It
is, indeed, a pleasure to visit a class where the pupils vie with one another in answering whatever question has been
asked, for this rivalry is a visible proof of the alertness of the children and the teacher’s skill. But the best evidence of
the teacher’s skill is her ability to let a few questions start the class in giving a connected treatment of a subject.
It is a good rule to make one question go as far as possible, and for the teacher to come prepared with a number of
pivotal questions. Strayer remarks: "A half dozen thoroughly good questions often make a recitation a most
stimulating exercise, while the absence of this preparation on the part of a teacher not infrequently results in the
ordinarily listless period which may actually be harmful to the child’s intellectual growth."
THE CASE AGAINST WORKBOOKS
Cardinal Newman gives this definition of the instruction given in the elementary school: "a discipline in accuracy of
mind". The great Cardinal then explains that the problem of modern students is the "haziness of intellectual vision"
caused by "shrinking from the effort and labor of thinking." The consequence is that when they grow up, our students
"will have no consistency, steadiness, or perseverance; they will not be able to make a telling speech, or to write a
good letter, or to fling in debate a smart antagonist, unless so far as, now and then, mother-wit supplies a sudden
capacity, which cannot be ordinarily counted on. They cannot state an argument or a question, or take a clear survey
of a whole transaction, or give sensible and appropriate advice under difficulties, or do any of those things which
inspire confidence and gain influence, which raise a man in life, and make him useful to his religion or his country."
How can we develop the intellects of our students? We have to arm ourselves with patience. Rome was not built in a
day, and buildings will not stand without foundations. If our students are to be taught well, they must be taught slowly,
and step by step. A good teacher will not be afraid to spend time on a particular page if he sees that it is stimulating
the minds of his pupils. Quality comes before quantity.
One of the problems of modern education is the abuse of workbooks. When used in a systematic way, they tend to
lead the child to develop automatic reflexes so that he fills in the blanks without thinking. Very little true learning is
accomplished. The exercises tend to be artificial, the sentences meaningless and personal effort is therefore not
encouraged. In traditional education, the students were using a notebook in which they were writing dictations,
compositions, diagramming etc… They were not just filling in the blanks but writing whole sentences and whole
paragraphs. Penmanship was thereby greatly improved. Students were also proud of their notebooks. A workbook is
thrown away after use whereas a beautifully kept notebook (poetry, history, religion) can be kept throughout life.
The shortcomings of multiple-choice questions are evident enough: shaky knowledge is sufficient to recognize the
answer, guessing yields rather good results, intelligent discrimination among the answers may enable one to find the
correct solution even if one did not know it. It is therefore no true way of assessing a child’s solid knowledge. Oral
questions are often the best way to really find out if the child has grasped a particular point.
Does this mean that workbooks are never to be used in our classrooms? No, in fact they may be necessary in certain
circumstances (several grades in the same classroom, etc…). Obviously, they should only be used with great
moderation. Good teachers will much prefer oral exercises or using the blackboard and the notebook. Workbooks
favor laziness of the mind since they do not require much intellectual effort. We do not want our students to fill out
worksheets in a mechanical way, but to think accurately.
Marva Collins on workbooks:
Just as soil must be cultivated for great crops to grow, our children too, must be placed, figuratively, in fertilized soil if
they are to grow. But, as I go across the country I find that students sit militaristically behind worksheets and
workbooks that they have never been taught to read. No one can learn to read, comprehend, and reason from
worksheets or workbooks. Those are not the tools of a teacher-directed classroom in which the Socratic method
prevails.
Could any of us go to a foreign country and be given a workbook, or worksheet and be expected to master the
language? Imagine Jesus passing out worksheets and workbooks requiring the participants to check off true and
false answers, and to guess at answers that they had never learned to read.
From Marva Collins' Comments & Observations
