Hello Friends,

This month I am sharing a second approach to Socratic Seminars in the classroom. Thank you to Corri Figueiredo for this terrific classroom process, which she uses in high school science. In addition, I am sharing things which are hanging out on my computer desktop: www.flamingnet.com (again); The Institute for Language and Education Policy; citations on the effects of poverty on learning; a Call for Doctoral Teachers; Prairie Pedagogy; and Notes from The Real World.

Socratic Seminar

Figueiredo, C. (2005, Spring). An exploration of Socratic dialogues in the secondary English learner science classroom. Unpublished MA thesis, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA.

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in which they respectfully communicate their ideas on a given subject. Each person reflects on the ideas that the other has shared and looks for strengths in the other person's perspective. Participants work toward improving their own ideas, and they remain open to the possibility that there is still a better answer (Finn, 1999; Klassen-Endrizzi, 2004).

A specific type of dialogue that is lead by a facilitator and focuses on ethics, is the Socratic Dialogue (Society for the Furtherance of the Critical Philosophy, 2004). An innovative way to structure Socratic Dialogues in the classroom is to have each student share her point of view on an issue or create a persuasive argument in a class discussion. Effective Socratic Dialogues have a dialectical approach. This approach involves the consideration of one's own viewpoint and the viewpoint of others or the "yinning and yanging" of ideas (Wink, 2000, p. 46).

According to Hegel (1807/1977), the dialectic approach is made up of one point of view (thesis), an opposite point of view (antithesis), and joins the ideas of both views to reach a complex understanding of the issue (synthesis). Consider the following example as a basis for understanding the dialectic approach: "Thesis: The glass is half-full; Antithesis: The glass is half-empty; Synthesis: The volume that is empty equals the volume that is full" (Steinhart, 1998). The Socratic Dialogue with a dialectic approach is an ongoing process in which students have the opportunity to visit and revisit issues within themselves and as a group as they move toward synthesis.

The Institute on Language and Education Policy Research-Based Advocacy for Schools and Communities
http://www.JoanWink.com/newsletter/2006/ELLInvite.pdf

Book Reviews: By Kids For Kids
www.flamingnet.com
Elliot. son of web wizard Denise public@ctechs.com, shares this contribution. Review of "The Wizard Lord" Vol. 1 of the Annals of the Chosen by Lawrence Watt-Evans.
http://www.flamingnet.com/bookreviews/newreviews/newbookreview.cfm?title=The%20Wizard%20Lord

Citations on The Effects of Poverty

Two graduate students, Theresa Gill and Leisa Machado, have been working on the dreadful effects of poverty on students' learning. Here are a few of the citations which they have been using. Thanks, Theresa and Leisa.

Biddle, B. J., & Berliner, D. C. (2003). What research says about unequal funding in schools in America. Retrieved March 20, 2006, from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/pp-03-01.pdf

Berliner, D. (2005, August 23). Our impoverished view of educational reform. Retrieved September 4, 2005, from http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=12106

Carey, K. (2005). The funding gap: Many states still short change low-income and minority students. Retrieved October 7, 2005, from http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/funding+gap+2004.htm

Dodge, C. (2005, August). Knowledge for Sale: Are America's public libraries on the verge of losing their way? Retrieved October 13, 2005 from, http://www.utne.com/pub/2005_130/promo/11706-1.html

Kim, J. S., & Sunderman, G. L. (2005, November). Measuring academic proficiency under the No Child Left Behind Act: Implications for educational equity. Educational Researcher, 34(8), 3-13.

Kirst, W. T., Haertel, M. E. et al. (2005). Similar students, different results: Why do some schools do better? A large-scale survey of California elementary schools serving low-income students. Mountain View, CA: EdSource. www.edsource.org.

Why do some California elementary schools serving largely low-income students do better on the state's academic performance index (API) than other schools with very similar students? To help answer that question, a new EdSource study surveyed principals and teachers in 257 schools serving many low-income students. Initial findings show that socioeconomic factors are far from the sole predictor of academic performance. What schools do and what resources they have for doing it can make a powerful difference.

Kozol, J. (2005, December). The shame of the nation. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(4), pp. 264-275.

Krashen, S. (2005, October 26). Privilege gap remains. USA Today. Retrieved June 25, 2006, from http://sdkrashen.com/pipermail/krashen_sdkrashen.com/2005-October/000313.html

Contrary to Education Secretary Spellings' claim ("Tests will drive gains," October 19), NCLB is not working. No Child Left Behind promised to close the gap between children of poverty and children not in poverty. This has not happened. The differences in test scores between children eligible for free or reduced lunch and those not eligible are nearly the same in 2005 as they were in 2003.

The administration has wasted 100 billion dollars of taxpayers' money on NCLB, and now Spellings wants to waste more and extend NCLB to high schools. This is good news for test and workbook publishers, but bad news for students and for taxpayers.

Krashen, S. and Brown, C.L. 2005. The ameliorating effects of high socioeconomic status: A secondary analysis. Bilingual Research Journal 29(1): 185-196.

Re-analysis of several studies showed that high social class English Learners did as well as or better than low social class Fluent English speakers on tests of math and English.

Payne, R. K. (2003). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, TX: aha! Process.

Sirin, S. (2005, Fall). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 417-453.

Teacher Magazine. (2006, January 17). Vital statistics. Retrieved January 18, 2006, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/collections/trend-tracker/2006/01/17/0106trends_vitalstats.htm

Viadero, D. (2006, June 21). Race report's influence felt 40 years later: Legacy of coleman study was new view of equity. Retrieved June 24, 2006, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/06/21/41coleman.h25.html?levelId=1000

Other related articles are list at this site from edweek.org.

Calling All Doctoral Teachers

Dear Colleagues,

I am a kindergarten teacher in Ceres Unified School District and hold a PhD. in Education from Capella University. I am interested in forming a group of elementary teachers who have doctorates. The purpose of this group would be to collaborate as professionals within the public school system. The number of k-12 public school doctoral teachers (named coined by Chris Kerfoot, who is writing her dissertation on this subject) in California is less than 1% - making this a unique group of individuals. I look forward to hearing from you.

Let the dialogue begin.

Best regards,

Sharon Whitehead-van Löben Sels, PhD
Hidahl Elementary
Ceres Unified School District
swhitehead@ceres.k12.ca.us
sharonwhitehead@sbcglobal.net

Chris Kerfoot
c_kerfoot@uop.edu

To Reference This Web Page
Wink, J. (2006, July). WinkWorld: July 2006
Retrieved ,
from www.joanwink.com/newsletter/2006/news0706-intro.html.