The Thinking Folk Project - Using Socratic Dialogues as a Pedagogical Construct to Develop Language and Meaning

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào

The Thinking Folk project introduced Socratic dialogues as a pedagogical construct to develop critical thinking and language use in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, grounded in learners’ lived experiences. Learners soon described the conversations as “real” talk, supporting authentic English use and fostering recognition of shared human bonds. The project prompted curriculum reconsideration and commitment to dialogical, participatory learning that builds English fluency while enabling participants to find commonality and meaning in their own and others’ experiences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

The Background

Meaning Making

The Thinking Folk Project: Using Socratic Dialogues as a Pedagogical Construct to Develop Language and Meaning garry nicholson Abstract The Thinking Folk project introduced Socratic dialogues as a pedagogical construct to develop critical thinking skills by drawing on the lived experiences of learners in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. The resulting conversations were soon described as ‘real’ talk by learners, which, in a process that not only developed the authentic use of the English language but also enabled them to recognise the common bonds that make us all human. The project led toa curriculum rethink and a commitment to dialogical and participatory learning activities aimed at giving participants the opportunity to develop their English fluency, whilst finding commonality and meaning in their own and others’experiences. Keywords: Socratic Dialogues, Praxis, Meaning Making Introduction The Thinking Folk project introduced Socratic dialogues to develop learners’critical thinking skills. Data from adult learning lesson visits during the academic year 2021-22 highlighted that critical thinking and questioning were potential areas for development. From the collation of feedback comments, the most frequent development point was to encourage tutors to ask more‘analyse’ and ‘evaluate’ questions. In addition to this, there was a desire to draw upon the rich resource of learners’ personal histories that so often emerge in adult learning classes. Rather than critical thinking and questioning as a technique to use in general teaching, the key aim of the project was to explore the philosophical construct of Socratic dialogues as being a vehicle for their facilitation. When writing about creating his paintings in I Work Like a Gardener, Joan Miró wrote that ‘what matters is that it should have sown seeds on earth [ ... ] A picture must be fertile’ (2017, p.251). This is in many ways a perfect analogy for the project. Socratic dialogues are a type of constructed conversation and, as such, the project at its simplest level was based on a strategy akinto Miró’s quote: encourage as many tutors as possible to scatter Socratic dialogues like seeds, and reflect on what grew out of the conversations. The remainder of this article details how ‘fertile’ the project was in the growth of mutual understanding and language development. It also aspires to stimulate discussion about the terms praxis and ‘meaning making’ as philosophical and psychological terms that are highly relevant to adult learning and education in general. The Background The stimulus for the project was a similar venture implemented by Danish adult educators to counter isolation during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown by creating multiple discussion groups (The Danish People’s Education Council, 2020) . Engaging in conversations that explore life’s ‘big’questions has a long tradition in Denmark due to the Danish Folk High School movement making it a central pillar of their pedagogy. Inspired by the Danish writer, poet, philosopher and pastor N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), the Danish Folk Schools were founded as an antithesis to formal education, with the aim of providing a ‘popular’ education based on the spoken word anda belief that education should promote the development of life enlightenment, democratic education and popular enlightenment (The Danish People’s Education Council, 2022) . Since the first school was founded in Rødding in 1844, they have remained largely undocumented outside Denmark, despite generally being acknowledged as the Free School Movement that made a significant contribution to Denmark’s transformation from being one of Europe’s poorest nations to the prosperous nation it is today (Anderson and Bjorkman, 2017). It is only when one becomes familiar with his ideas that it becomes apparent that if Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, and Eduard C. Lindeman represent an educational philosophical tradition that falls squ

FAQs

What was the core purpose of the Thinking Folk project?

It used Socratic dialogues as a philosophical construct to develop learners’ critical thinking and questioning skills while building meaningful language use in ESOL classes.

Why did the project emphasize learners’ lived experiences?

Because the conversations drew on learners’ personal histories, which helped make the talk feel “real” and supported authentic English use and mutual understanding.

What training or facilitation improvements did the project identify as important?

Feedback indicated that tutors should be encouraged to ask more “analyse” and “evaluate” questions, and to support dialogical participation through structured conversations.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào