Socratic Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, and Inmate Education

Abstract

This article explains and analyzes the practical application of the Socratic method in the context of inmate education, and identifies core critical thinking elements that emerge from four transcribed Socratic discussions with prison inmates. The paper starts with a detailed examination of the stages of the Socratic method as practiced by the historical Socrates, and then provides a definition and an explanation of critical thinking. The reader is then guided through an in-depth analysis of transcriptions of Socratic conversations with inmates, and is shown both how these conversations fit into a Socratic template, and which of the core critical thinking elements is most prominent in each discussion.