In Plato’s Republic, Socrates uses a variety of teaching methods in order to guide his peers toward a deeper understanding of what justice is. However, the teaching styles implemented by most educators today do not reflect those used by Socrates throughout the entirety of the Republic. It is through Socrates's own use of philosophical inquiry, his offering of analogies, and his creation of images that the ideal process of education is revealed which emphasizes the role of the teacher as the most important aspect of education with an overall goal to guide students up the ladder from imagination to understanding (510a). By reading the Republic as a dialogue between a teacher and his pupils, ideas about education can be drawn from every interaction
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Through this, he shows that teachers should not force ideas upon students but rather lead students to form their own ideas. Socrates says that “no free person should learn anything like a slave” because “nothing taught by force stays in the soul” (536e). So instead of telling his peers the answers to the questions he asks and forcing information on to them, Socrates teaches them through examples. The allegory of the cave described in book VII is used as a concrete way for Socrates to portray his intangible ideas of the visible and intelligible realm (517b). He also uses this allegory to reiterate that “education isn’t what some people declare it to be, namely, putting knowledge into souls that lack it, like putting sight into blind eyes” which is seen when the enlightened prisoner feels obligated to go back and share with his friends what he has learned. Just like this prisoner, Socrates feels obligated to educate his friends in a way by which they will gain a deeper understanding. This is the way in which teachers today should also teach, for when knowledge is shared happiness is spread “throughout the city by bringing the citizens into harmony with each other” (519e). Through his teaching tactics, Socrates sets a perfect example for how teachers should interact with their students in order to maintain a balance between forcing knowledge and providing no guidance at
Through this, he shows that teachers should not force ideas upon students but rather lead students to form their own ideas. Socrates says that “no free person should learn anything like a slave” because “nothing taught by force stays in the soul” (536e). So instead of telling his peers the answers to the questions he asks and forcing information on to them, Socrates teaches them through examples. The allegory of the cave described in book VII is used as a concrete way for Socrates to portray his intangible ideas of the visible and intelligible realm (517b). He also uses this allegory to reiterate that “education isn’t what some people declare it to be, namely, putting knowledge into souls that lack it, like putting sight into blind eyes” which is seen when the enlightened prisoner feels obligated to go back and share with his friends what he has learned. Just like this prisoner, Socrates feels obligated to educate his friends in a way by which they will gain a deeper understanding. This is the way in which teachers today should also teach, for when knowledge is shared happiness is spread “throughout the city by bringing the citizens into harmony with each other” (519e). Through his teaching tactics, Socrates sets a perfect example for how teachers should interact with their students in order to maintain a balance between forcing knowledge and providing no guidance at