The Greek philosopher Socrates (470 BCE – 399 BCE) modeled a teaching method that used open-ended, probing questions to lead students toward a deeper understanding of a subject.

Last week, AP European history teacher John Thompson hosted a series of Socratic seminars, student-led discussions that focused on the question ‘Was the Renaissance a period of increased secularism?” In the class section that we attended, volunteer facilitator Roshan Sekhar ’28 sat at the head of the table leading the discussion.

  Q: “Why did you volunteer?”

  A: “It seemed interesting.”

  Q: “Have you ever done anything like this before? “

  A:  “No,” replied Roshan with a smile.

Two students missed the seminar, which was a graded event... 

and several boys volunteered to help their missing classmates recreate the seminar. No extra credit was offered, they were just being good guys. 

Thompson’s rules were simple:

• Speak up often
• No laptops allowed (Thompson has found that AI-assisted responses inhibit the goal of individual intellectual development…only notes are permitted)
• Follow leader instructions 
• Respect all viewpoints
• Turn in prep work at the end of the class

The class was divided into two groups, Team Secularism vs. Team Non-Secularism. After each question was posed by Roshan, the teams had a minute and a half to answer. First question: What is Secularism? The consensus was that Secularism was a move away from Christianity towards more a worldly perspective. 

Participants used prominent Renaissance figures like Leonardo DaVinci, Machiavelli, Galileo and Petrarch to illustrate their points, and the Seminar explored different perspectives through active listening and thoughtful dialogue. At one point Thompson prodded his students to speak up faster (“My last class had no gaps. You guys need to step it up.”) This turned out to be a collaborative learning experience that encouraged the boys to develop critical thinking skills while engaging with each other in an exploration of complex ideas. 

Just another day of learning at Delbarton School for Intellectual Curiosity.