Socratic Circle

Thursday was one of the most interesting ways I've ever spent a block period in English. When Mr. Dominguez first told our class about the concept of the socratic circle, I wasn't sure of how it would end up going for a few different reasons. Despite my skepticism, I ended up enjoying it a lot. I participated in the second inner circle group, which discussed Kirsten Gardner's article, "An Incomplete Version of the Past that Silences Important Struggles." While both conversations, or "circles," were both centered around the Texas curriculum issue, my group focused more on the way that the curriculum was taught, rather than what it included. Overall, our group was basically on the same page with how we felt about the importance of critical thinking, while still addressing the importance of learning the "basic conceptual building blocks of history."

To start off with what should be included in the textbook, there is an obvious need for an unbiased, factual book. With that, the issue of who should be able to decide what the book consists of should be a committee of balance. The committee should have an equal number of people with regard to political party members, races, to ensure a diverse, unbiased input from all areas. Of course these people need to know what they are talking about, which wasn't the case in "Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change," in which a dentist's thoughts are mentioned. "What is he doing? He's just a DENTIST!" is the best description for that, as was said by a classmate in that discussion. :) While this committee is ideal, whether it will be able to become a reality is debateable. If possible, this committee will have a hand in preventing a "limited version of the past that silences important struggles," in order to represent a "complete version of the American history." With a solid foundation on which to teach, teachers can enable students to know what happened in yesterday's history and how to prevent mistakes from happening tomorrow's future.

While what is included in the textbook has significance, I think that the way students are able to absorb that information is much, much more important. Speaking for myself, I am so much more interested in HOW these historical figures accomplished such amazing things, rather than just that they were achieved. Rather than just memorizing facts and dates, taking a test, and getting the grade that is necessary to pass a class, students who are taught by teachers who have a passion for what is being taught are able to leave the classroom with more than just that. Not only will those said students get so much more out of each daily lesson, their critical thinking will enable them to relate each historical figure, event, or date to their own lives. That relation will enable them to retain the information much better, because they will CARE about what they are learning. They will be motivated to learn, and in turn be more passionate and knowledgeable about the past and the future. The importance of critical thinking was encompassed by Dr. Gonzalez, in that it "allows us to imagine worlds beyond the one we know."

:)