ABSTRACT
A Socratic Dialogue space can take many formats. It can range from a single three-hour session to weekly sessions over the course of an entire four-year program. This chapter presents several practical exercises and activities to be used in the classroom to create and manage these different spaces. It includes a set of potential formats for sessions or full courses. These exercises help in different ways by: deepening self-awareness; practicing self-expression; listening to others’ perspectives and learning from them; building strategies to act in accordance with one's values. Together with the practical tips to carry out a Socratic Dialogue, the chapter provides some hints on how to react to some of the commonest challenges participants may present for the facilitator. It also offers advice on how to resolve some of the challenges one might face as a future facilitator and ends with a sequence of how one should prepare to facilitate a dialogue. Implementing the advice and techniques offered in the chapter takes practice and patience. Facilitating a Socratic Dialogue is as much about helping others know themselves as it is about getting to know ourselves as facilitators and our strengths and weaknesses.
