Socratic Seminars for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Vol. 6 - Research and pedagogy on Socratic dialogue

Oct 15, 2026

This paper explores Socratic dialogue as a pedagogical basis for educating students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. It argues that dialogue-based interaction can strengthen language, interactive and critical thinking, and support self-evaluation. The study highlights how dialogic learning’s social nature may scaffold children in engaging with others and perceiving others’ emotions. The article contrasts dialogue scarcity in autism education with the long-tested behavioral interventions, then proposes a compatible dialogue-based teaching design for ASD learners.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Pedagogical dialogue types

Socratic seminars and related approaches

ISSN: 2325-3290 (online) Socratic Seminars for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Ali Nouri Malayer University, Iran Ann Pihlgren Ignite Research Institute, Sweden Abstract This paper explores the possibilities of the pedagogical use of Socratic dialogue as a basis for educating students diagnosed with autism. The Socratic dialogue is a particular pedagogical method used in educational settings to enhance student’s thinking and dialogic abilities. Research has proven that Socratic dialogue may result in improved language, interactive, and critical thinking abilities, as well as have effect on students’ self-evaluation. The social nature of dialogic learning may scaffold children with specific abilities to effectively interact with others and perceive those others’ emotions. Presently, education of students diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) use a variety of educational interventions, mostly inspired by behaviorist theory. These include little or no systematic use of dialogue as a pedagogical means of scaffolding students' abilities. However, several of these behaviorist methods have been tried out for a long period, educating students with ASDs, and have also proved to be successful to certain extents. In this article, we explore why and how Socratic dialogue can be used as an effective strategy for educating individuals diagnosed with autism. Hence, the investigation ends by introducing a dialogue-based teaching design that is compatible for children diagnosed with ASDs, to be explored and evaluated. Ali Nouri is an assistant professor in department of educational studies at Malayer University, Iran. His research interests are dialogic pedagogy, neuroscientific foundation of curriculum, theories of learning and teaching, educational neuroscience and neuroedcational research. He is involved in several projects concerning the implications of brain research for educational policy and practice. Ali is now the director of Neuroeducation Studies SIG which works under the supervision of Iranian Curriculum Studies Association. The SIG aim is to reflect the recent advances in the field of neuroeducation studies. Ann S. Pihlgren , PhD, research director at Ignite Research Institute has worked as supervisor, principal, teacher, quality controller, chairman of the political school board, and vice principal and educator at Stockholm University. She is involved in several projects concerning school development, pedagogical improvement, and leadership training, in Sweden, Europe, and the USA. Her doctoral dissertation“Socrates in the Classroom” was a thorough investigation of the Socratic traditions in education, and a phenomenological analysis of the interplay of youngsters philosophizing as part of their classroom syllabus. It was awarded “Swedish dissertation of the year” 2008. Ann has also received the Swedish award for enhancing school democracy, DAKS. Her literary book production includes: “Socratic Dialogue in Education”, “Democratic Educational Methods”, and “The Thinking Classroom”. Her research interests concern thinking, cooperative learning, democratic education, and consequences in teaching. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal | [http://dpj.pitt.edu](http://dpj.pitt.edu) [DOI: 10.5195/dpj](DOI: 10.5195/dpj).2018.173 | Vol. 6 (2018) A19 Socratic Seminars for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Ali Nouri and Ann Pihlgren Introduction The ideal pedagogical dialogue could be described as an activity directed towards discovery, new understanding, teaching, and learning in a decentered and non-authoritarian way (Burbules, 1993), eventhough this ideal might be difficult to reach in classrooms (Burbules, 2000) . Educational dialogue is in some ways a specific genre that partly differs from the everyday conversations or critical and emancipative dialogue. In the school context, the dialogue is aimed at students learning a particular knowledge or developing abilities

FAQs

What is the main educational purpose of Socratic dialogue in this paper?

To support discovery, understanding, teaching, and learning through a non-authoritarian, decentered dialogue approach.

How are pedagogical dialogue types distinguished in the introduction?

By the relation between dialogue and knowledge construction (convergent vs divergent) and by participants’ dialogical relation (inclusive vs critical).

Why do the authors connect Socratic seminars to education for students with autism spectrum disorders?

They argue that dialogic learning can scaffold interaction and emotion perception, and they propose a dialogue-based teaching design compatible with ASD learners.

Oct 15, 2026

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