Editing Socratic method (section)

====Text selection====
=====Socratic seminar texts=====
A Socratic seminar text is a tangible document that creates a thought-provoking discussion.<ref name=NPC>{{cite web|title=The Paideia Seminar: active thinking through dialogue. 3.4 Planning step 3: Select text|url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/paideia/6901|access-date=16 July 2012|archive-date=15 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815013934/http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/paideia/6901|url-status=live}}</ref>
The text ought to be appropriate for the participants' current level of intellectual and social development.<ref name=Chorzempa>{{cite journal|last=Chorzempa|first=Barbara|author2=Lapidus, Laurie |title=To Find Yourself, Think For Yourself|journal=Teaching Exceptional Children|date=January 2009|volume=41|issue=3|pages=54–59|doi=10.1177/004005990904100306|s2cid=146880761}}</ref> It provides the anchor for dialogue whereby the [[facilitator]] can bring the participants back to the text if they begin to digress. Furthermore, the seminar text enables the participants to create a level playing field – ensuring that the dialogical tone within the classroom remains consistent and pure to the subject or topic at hand.<ref name=NPC /> Some practitioners argue that "texts" do not have to be confined to printed texts, but can include artifacts such as objects, physical spaces, and the like.

=====Pertinent elements of an effective Socratic text=====
Socratic seminar texts are able to challenge participants' thinking skills by having these characteristics:

# ''Ideas and values'': The text must introduce ideas and values that are complex and difficult to summarize.<ref name=NPC /> Powerful discussions arise from personal connections to abstract ideas and from implications to personal values.
# ''Complexity and challenge'': The text must be rich in ideas and complexity <ref name=Furman /> and open to interpretation.<ref name=Mangrum>{{cite journal|last=Mangrum|first=Jennifer|title=Sharing Practice Through Socratic Seminars|journal=Kappan|date=April 2010|volume=91|issue=7|pages=40–43|doi=10.1177/003172171009100708|s2cid=144053420}}</ref> Ideally it should require multiple readings,<ref name=FHO>{{cite web|title=Facing History and Ourselves: Socratic Seminar|url=http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/strategies/socratic-seminar|access-date=16 July 2012|archive-date=13 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713002529/http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/strategies/socratic-seminar|url-status=live}}</ref> but should be neither far above the participants' intellectual level nor very long.
# ''Relevance to participants' curriculum'': An effective text has identifiable themes that are recognizable and pertinent to the lives of the participants.<ref name=Chorzempa /> Themes in the text should relate to the curriculum.
# ''[[Ambiguity]]'': The text must be approachable from a variety of different perspectives, including perspectives that seem mutually exclusive, thus provoking critical thinking and raising important questions. The absence of right and wrong answers promotes a variety of discussion and encourages individual contributions.<ref name=Furman /><ref name=FHO />

=====Two different ways to select a text=====
Socratic texts can be divided into two main categories:

# Print texts (e.g., short stories, poems, and essays) and non-print texts (e.g. photographs, sculptures, and maps); and
# Subject area, which can draw from print or non-print artifacts. As examples, language arts can be approached through poems, history through written or oral historical speeches, science through policies on environmental issues, math through mathematical proofs, health through nutrition labels, and physical education through fitness guidelines.<ref name=Furman /><ref name=NPC />