Mistakes Made Using the Socratic Method

While sitting in our school's office for 1-on-1 tutoring, I observed that a good tutor is a good at explaining, not necessarily questioning a la the familiar Socratic Method.

A lot of times when you see an adult trying to tutor a child you witness a dialogue that runs something like this:

Child: "It says to solve for x. It says 2x + 10 = 50

Parent: "So how do you solve for x?"

Child: "Uh,...."

Parent: "How do you do it, honey?"

Child: "Multiply?"

Parent: "No,.... What do you do first?"

Child: "Add."

This is frustrating for both parties, of course.

The problem here is that the Socratic Method is a great pedagogical technique, but mostly for teaching a class in seminar-type environment.

It is not a winning strategy for tutoring a single student in a 1-on-1 environment.

Here's why:

1. Unless a student is very bright, he probably don't know everything they are supposed to know. About anything. He may have some areas where he knows way more than you would think. But just try asking an average kid to remember metaphor vs. similar or order of operations. They are gonna slip up.
   
2. In a class, there are a lot of students that know nothing about a subject. But there are also bound to be some who know something. In the aggregate, a conversation can arise where most questions can be answered. Or an answer can be attempted. Which the teacher can guide. Maybe using the Socratic Method, and maybe not.
   

Let the tutors explain. The teachers can teach. And use the Socratic Method with caution, everybody.