ROUGH DRAFT: Death to Socrates! (final draft will be posted at the close of business.)

-- By MinaNasseri - 12 Feb 2008

Introduction

“We use the Socratic method here. I call on you, ask you a question, and you answer it…Through this method of questioning, answering, questioning, answering…you teach yourselves the law, but I train your mind. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and you leave thinking like a lawyer.”

The method illustrated above sounds desirable on its face. An ideal law school classroom would work in such a way: an exchange between student and instructor wherein the student’s “skull full of mush” is transformed into a fine-tuned legal mind. So it may come as a surprise that this description of the Socratic method was provided by Professor Kingsfield of The Paper Chase, the very archetype of the Socratic method gone wrong. Kingsfield’s application of the Socratic method in his classroom replaces the desirable process explained above with a reign of terror--the professor calls on a timid, unsuspecting student and drills him until he is utterly humiliated. The Kingsfield model of the Socratic method aimed not to teach students how to think like a lawyer, but to accept that the professor is smarter, sharper, wittier than they will ever be.

Admittedly, Kingsfield is a character of fiction meant to exaggerate the harsh aspects of a Socratic instructor. That does not, however, negative the actual pitfalls of the Socratic method. This unique teaching method adopted from Socrates is desirable, in theory. But when applied in a modern law school classroom, coupled with the casebook method of instruction, the Socratic method loses its advantageous qualities and, instead, becomes ineffective. The Socratic method only serves as a reliable mode of instruction that professors use because it is comfortable and familiar. This reliance in the legal academic community on the Socratic method prevents the implementation of more effective modes of teaching. As such, the Socratic method should be abrogated by American law schools and replaced by alternative methods of teaching.

The Ideal

The Method As Intended

The Socratic method, when used as intended, was a beneficial mode of inquiry. The method created by Socrates was originally a form of philosophical inquiry. It involved an inquisitor posing a series of questions concerning a central issue, continuing the stream of questioning until the student contradicts himself. In leading his students to contradiction, the instructor showed students the nature of their ignorance. Thereafter, a Socratic teacher questioned the student to help him construct the knowledge that he had just demonstrated was lacking. The goal was not to persuade the students or trap them in their own contradictions, but to develop their ability to think independently and analytically.

Philosophical, Not Absolute

Further, Socrates generally applied his method of inquiry to philosophical concepts that lacked a definite answer (wisdom and justice for example). The aim was to bring out the logical inconsistencies the existed in students’ everyday beliefs and to induce an eventual state of puzzlement. Students would be led from this state of puzzlement toward a desire to investigate. Essentially, the Socratic method was intended to induce students to independently reexamine their beliefs and challenge their own ignorance.

The Reality

A Factual Interrogation

The Socratic method used in law schools today bears very little resemblance to the method expounded by Socrates. It has become a “watered-down” version of itself, where students are asked the facts of a case and little else. Very little effort is made by instructors to guide students’ thought process during the questioning; most of the emphasis is on whether the student read the case thoroughly enough to remember every minute fact and every aspect of the opinion. The Socratic method as applied today focuses on the what rather than on the why - a complete divergence from the why-driven inquiries of Socrates.

Psychological Effects

The form that the Socratic method has taken, one of factual interrogation by an intimidating authority figure, has a negative psychological effect on law students. Most students associate the method with feelings of anxiousness, apprehension, and plain fear. Students are afraid to admit confusion or ignorance - originally considered a Socratic virtue - for fear of sounding unintelligent or unprepared. A student may decide to not attend class rather than be interrogated. Many students resort to playing “musical chairs,” hoping that not sitting in their assigned seats will reduce their chances of being called on.

Effectiveness

The modern form of the Socratic method, coupled with the casebook method, place an undue emphasis on reading and memorizing court decisions. Due to a fear of being called on, students read the assigned cases with an excruciating and unwarranted attention to detail. They dwell on the minutia of case law and neglect focusing on the overarching themes and concepts that drive the law. Attending class has become an everyday battle for students where they take on The Socratic Method. This focus on doing well when called on distracts students from engaging in the legal inquiry essential to becoming a lawyer.

Alternative Methods of Instruction

The Transition

Abrogation of the Socratic method in America’s law schools will drive faculty to develop and utilize more effective alternative methods of legal instruction. The Socratic method is used as a “crutch” for many professors, who find it easier to do what has always been done rather than to implement more effective teaching methods. Some professors even use the Socratic method because they feel pressure to--not because they actually believe in its effectiveness. But a risk of eliminating the Socratic method would be professors merely lecturing as the alternative. The law school’s administrators must collaborate with its faculty to implement creative teaching methods as an alternative to the Socratic method.

Proponents of the Socratic method argue that it equips students with skills that they will use as lawyers, such as oral advocacy skills. However, any skill acquired by students through the Socratic method can be taught through a superior, alternative teaching mechanism - one that perhaps does not leave many students feeling apprehensive and fearful.

Potential Alternatives

One potential alternative is the clinical teaching method, wherein simulation and supervised work equips students with practical legal skills. Though this mode of teaching is available for upper-level students, it is severely lacking in a first year curriculum. The ins-and-outs of Civil Procedure may become easier to grasp in such a setting, as opposed to in a setting where the professor calls on the students to recite the facts of International Shoe.

Another alternative is a cooperative, communal learning environment which engages the entire class rather than focus on one student at a time. In such a setting, a professor would pose a question to the entire class for discussion and students would volunteer their opinions. Or, the professor could assign groups problems to work through in class and present their solutions to the class. Students will learn how to collaborate with one another and will gain oral advocacy skills when they make their presentations to the class.

There are a number of ways professors and law school administrators, by thinking creatively, can come up with alternatives to the Socratic method. American law schools have too long relied on the Socratic method for teaching and have ignored more effective alternatives. Through eliminating the Socratic method in law school instruction, law schools will be driven to explore these alternatives and better equip their students with the necessary tools.

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