Discussions in a Socrates Café: Implications for Critical Thinking in Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to benchmark the types of Socratic questioning that were occurring in a Socrates Café, an online discussion forum, in a graduate-level diversity course in teacher education. The Universal Intellectual Standards were used to analyze Socratic questioning. Results suggested that the nine Universal Intellectual Standards provided an exceptional deductive framework for understanding the types and frequencies of Socratic questioning occurring in the Socrates Café. The benefits of using a Socrates Cafe discussion for instruction to scaffold critical thinking are discussed and implications for teacher education are considered.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jody Piro

Jody Piro is an Associate Professor in the Doctor of Education in Instructional Leadership program at Western Connecticut State University. She has been involved in education for over twenty-five years in K-12 as a social studies teacher and as a dean and principal, and in higher education as a professor and dissertation director. Dr. Piro’s current scholarly interests focus on accountability outcomes for educators and problematizing discussion for critical analysis and civil discourse.

Gina Anderson

Gina Anderson is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education and the Program Coordinator of the Curriculum & Instruction program at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Prior to her work at TWU, Dr. Anderson taught several years of elementary and middle school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and served as a student teacher supervisor and teaching and research assistant at Oklahoma State University. Culturally-responsive teaching strategies and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning guide her research and scholarly interests.