Socratic seminary

Date of seminar

: 21 September 2016

Conductor

: Mr. Xolani Mabuza

Grade

: 11

Subject area

: Economics

Name of school

: Methula high school.

As an economics teacher I have seen the importance of implementing different

teaching strategies which will not only enable me to deliver the lesson effectively and
to meet the set objectives but strategies that will also engage my learners throughout
the lesson. Hence I have been given a task to implement a different teaching
strategy during my work integrated learning which is Socratic seminar. This report is
then based on my reflection on the chosen strategy and will also highlight its
strengths and its weaknesses.
Situation Analysis
I conducted my work integrated learning at Methula high School, a township school
situated at Fernie, nearby Ermelo in Mpumalanga. It is a public school which caters
for learners from different cultural backgrounds. It caters for Swati, Zulu as well as
Sotho speaking learners. The school was established in 2000, and it starts from
grade 7 to grade 12. The class is fully furnished, leaners desks are organised in
rows facing towards the board. Learners are seating in pairs with 2 per desk. The
grade 11A consists of 40 learners with more girls than boys. It is a very diverse and
multicultural classroom. The classroom is decorated with informative posters and
there is the class time table and other important information including classroom
rules on the notice board as well. The classroom is tidy and with a dust bin as well.
The usage language is English since it is the medium of instruction as the class
consists of diverse learners.
The seminar will cover the topic of poverty. Since the term 3 content was covered
and learners have been tested already so I decided to do a revision by selecting a
topic from term 2 which has already been covered which becomes easy for most of
the learners to easily relate to it. I have mainly chosen it because I am certain that
after completing and participating in this seminar, their attitude and behaviour
towards learning and their real social life and experience will be moulded, because
this topic focuses on improving their way of viewing the country and the society as a

while, giving them an insight of their social issues, economic issues as well as their
perspectives in the corporate world.
As this topic is very broad and is being exposed in todays society, I have searched
for articles online that focuses on different societies and made copies for the learners
before I went to my work integrated learning. This was interesting articles and easy
for them to relate and understand, it was about people who lives in rural areas where
there is no employment but a high birth rate. So those people were the most ignored
societies where the government stakeholder could spend more than two years
without visiting them nor delivering service but only comes during the elections to
make empty promises. I gave them those copies two days before the seminar, so
that they could read and understand those articles as well as reference from their
textbooks.
The first questions that I will ask them will be based on the first article which reflect
their understanding of the article as a whole. Were those people receiving service
delivery from the government? What do you think made the government to ignore
those societies? Is it impotent that everyone receive services from the government?
Why do you think people issues and needs should be addressed by the
government? Do you think those people could have done something to change their
living conditions? If you were in the shoes of those people what would you have
done and how would you have raised your issues and needs so that it can be heard
and addressed by the government? After reading this text, what have you learned
from it?
REFLECTION ON SEMINAR
The seminar that I conducted went well, most learners participated to the best of
their ability though there were some with less participation on others. Learners
brought meaningful discussion to the table and were able to relate everything into
their everyday lives, some were very touched and some were putting all the blames
to the government. During the seminar I was able to rectify misconception that
learners had about the government. I conducted the whole seminar in the given time
period and was able to manage and conclude everything on time.

BENEFITS AND LIMITATION OF SOCRATIC SEMINAR

Socratic learning is an excellent means of developing academic skills amongst

learners. It assists learners in their reading, listening, reflection, critical thinking and

participation. Learners also becomes able to value and respect others because when
sharing opinions and ideas.
Socratic learning encourage to be creators of new knowledge rather than being
reproducers of produce. Socratic learning also contribute toward team building and
cooperation amongst learners. This type of learning offers teachers and learners the
opportunity to practice and improve their skills in critical thinking. And also improve
their creativity through Socratic learning.
Most of the learners are facing a great deal of interpersonal challenges in and
outside the school. However through Socratic learning learners get an opportunity to
practice problem solving skills in a controlled environment. Socratic learning also
encourage learners to confront problem and work actively to solve them.
The disadvantages about Socratic learning is that classroom discussions naturally
open possibilities for discussion between instructors and students but also between
learners and other learners. While these discussions are the focus of the class and
the topic, they can also lead to division amongst learners, because some issues can
be sensitive to others but others may become insensitive and disagree with others.
Hence the duty of the teacher is to always redirect an errant conversation back to
what his or her objectives are.
The class discussion environment allows a few individual students to dominate the
class conversation. This tendency benefits your strongest learners, the individuals
already most familiar with the subject. Other students can relax and participate less
in the class discussion. This freedom leads to a relaxation of their learners
responsibilities. They are free to assume that they can avoid studying, reading
assignments or individual contemplation of the subject. This problem escalates as
the class size increases.
The nature of class discussion makes the process very time consuming. The
process of exploring a subject, while keeping learners on task in the discussion,
requires far more time than classic lecture style instruction. Short class periods may
not be sufficient to accommodate a complicated subject matter or to fully explore a
daily objective. This forces you to either abridge your lesson plan, leave a subject
unfinished or resume the discussion during another class period in which you had

intended to discuss another matter. Additionally, it is difficult to judge the necessary

length for specific issues, making designing lesson plans very challenging.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion I fully recommend the Socratic method of education,
because it enables teachers to engage students by asking questions that require
generative answers. Ideally, the answers to questions are not a stopping point for
thought but are instead a beginning to further analysis and research. Teachers can
use the Socratic Method in a variety of subject areas and across grade levels in
order to challenge students thinking and promote critical thinking. The Interactive
learning in the classroom help students prepare for the outside world issues than
those who do not. Active learners who seriously participate in learning like this
become critical thinkers and enhance their thinking skills to become more effective in
their community and society. This helps leaners to be prepared and ready for all the
encounters of the life issues.