Definition

• In a Socratic Method classroom, instructor-initiated questions (which typically challenge assumptions anticipated or encountered in the students' answers) are designed, not merely to impart particular facts within an academic body of knowledge, but more importantly, to hone the students' critical thinking skills.
  
  The technique gets its name from the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, who is reputed to have taught in this style.
  
  

Considerations

• It is misleading to speak of "law schools" using this teaching technique. Professors determine, individually, as a matter of academic freedom, how they will teach, be it in a conventional lecture approach, discussion group, Socratically or otherwise. Often a professor will mix instructional styles within a course's term. So, it is likely that students will encounter some Socratic teachers, or teachers that use the Socratic approach at least part of the time, at any law school in the United States.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The belief that "The Socratic classroom is a torture chamber for students" is not always true. Some teachers do use their questions to intimidate or even "haze" students, but most are simply trying to inculcate that most essential of lawyerly skills, the ability to think critically or logically. And even those instructors who are demanding, are simply giving students a preview of what a judge's questions can be like in a courtroom, the setting where these same students presumably hope someday to practice law.
  
  

Example

• Teacher's first question in a contract law course: What is a promise?
  
  Student's response: It's like a contract?
  
  Teacher: How so? What is a contract?
  
  As the exchange continues, the instructor's goal is to impart not just the definitions of:
  •a promise (a commitment one makes regarding one's future conduct) and;
  •a contract (a promise that is legally enforceable);
  but to have the students understand the relation between the two concepts, that is, that contracts are a subset of the universe of all promises. It should also be clear that some promises are not contracts.
  
  For example, see the Venn diagram listed in the References. In the diagram, the large circle is the universe of all promises. The circle within the larger circle is a subset: contractual promises.
  
  

Alternatives

• A student can minimize her exposure to Socratic teaching by pursuing legal studies through so-called distance learning, that is, online instruction. Online courses still employ instructor-assigned questions and the requirement that students answer them online. But the online environment usually cannot completely replicate (even with instant messaging options) the sort of rapid-fire, extemporaneous question-and-answer sequence that is characteristic of the conventional Socratic classroom.