8o Education through Nature 



6. THE SOCRATIC METHOD was first used by Soc- 

 rates as the term suggests. He was a philosopher 

 whose chief aim, as a teacher, was instruction. The 

 method consists in dialogue between the teacher 

 and the pupil. The questions, on the part of the 

 teacher, are so put as to lead the pupil to see things 

 from different points of view; to develop in the pupil's 

 mind certain lines of inquiry, which involve definite 

 problems, and hence lead the pupil, not only to ask 

 pertinent questions, but also to discover how those 

 very questions can be answered by his own skill and 

 effort. This may not seem very much like instruc- 

 tion; yet it is the kind of instruction which is ulti- 

 mately of most value; because it does not supply 

 immediate needs, as when you give the indigent 

 bread; but rather creates that unsatisfied feeling 

 which spurs on to renewed effort; as when you enable 

 the indigent to take pride in earning his own livelihood. 



The advantage of this method lies in the freedom 

 of discussion. The pupil is not made to feel, at the 

 outset, that his inner consciousness is being pried 

 into; or that he is exposing his own fearful ignorance. 

 He is rather made to feel that he is adding his mite 

 to that of the teacher's, in devising means and finding 

 solutions to problems. It is, therefore, a valuable 

 means of correcting errors in methods of observation, 

 by indirectly leading the pupils to see things in a 

 new light; and, consequently, to realize their own 

 errors and shortcomings, on the one hand, and, on 

 the other hand, a valuable introduction to the ex- 

 perimental part of the work. An experiment might 

 be defined as one's attempt to solve one's own prob- 

 lems by manipulation of nature. Of course, before 

 such experiment is possible, there must be a question 

 or a problem in the mind. The definite statement o) the 

 problem should be one of the results of the discussion. 



The chief difficulty to be guarded against in this 



