No student is certain before class whether she will be called on to discuss difficult issues or to respond to answers provided by one of her colleagues. She must therefore pay close attention to my discussions with other students so she will be ready to play a meaningful role. It also encourages students to prepare for class, which will enable them to learn more from the Socratic dialogue that takes place. The objective is to inculcate in students the habit of rigorous and critical analysis of the arguments that they hear, as well as the practice of assessing and revising their own ideas and approaches in light of new information or different reasoning. My description of the Socratic Method may make it sound eminently reasonable, but I know that many students view the experience with enormous trepidation.
Many students are worried about speaking in front of a large group that includes their professor.
Speaking in public, whether in the courtroom, before a group of clients or opposing counsel, or in a meeting of lawmakers working to draft a statute, is part of every lawyer's job, so developing the ability to present ideas forcefully and effectively in such contexts is integral to becoming a lawyer. In addition, students are very anxious about making mistakes when they participate in a Socratic dialogue. Making mistakes in class is inevitable and ultimately helpful as we work toward solutions to difficult legal problems. We are teaching reasoning skills, and the process of discovering a right answer is often more important than the answer itself. Another reason for the lingering student unease is that the Socratic Method places in high relief the absence of easy answers to legal problems.