Socrates believed that “the disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enables the ... student to examine ... and be able to determine the validity of those ideas”.
While Socrates was in the classroom long before the stresses of Progress 8 and performance-related pay, there is no doubt that the value of delicately structured conversation has not diminished.
There is a lot of research about cognitive acceleration through discussion (especially by Professors Michael Shayer and Philip Adey), and programmes such as Let’s Think from King’s College London, are helping thousands of teachers put down their pens and focus on discussion. But with time and budgets becoming ever tighter, it can be easy to wonder “why bother?” and instead just plan another exam practice lesson.
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