Socratic & Harkness Methods

The Guthrie School is a private, co-educational school serving students from Early Childhood (3 years old) to sixth grade. We provide organized instruction in small group settings with the goal of nurturing curiosity, work ethic, and the love of learning.

Our educational goals for your child are centered around the Socratic Method, which prepares our students to excel to the next level. Teachers actively involve students in the learning process with open-ended questions designed to elicit answers and prompt additional analysis, research, and collaborative discussion. The foundational goal of the Socratic Method uses questions to guide the discussion, allowing students to delve deeper in learning goals and gain a greater understanding of the topic.

The Socratic Method enhances active listening abilities, encourages close reading, boosts critical thinking skills, sharpens oral communication skills, refines critical reflection, and develops conflict resolution capabilities. This approach develops “academically elite” students who have the confidence and skills required for higher education after completing their studies at the Guthrie School.

Our Socratic teaching style is combined with the prestigious Harkness Method which utilizes oval tables for small group collaborative learning. The Guthrie School embraced the Harkness Method to further challenge our students and provide them with invaluable discussion and debate skills in encouraging expressive havens. In this learning environment, our students learn to actively listen, express their voice, and learn new ideas. Around the Harkness Table, the teacher guides the discussion, encourages critical thinking, and help students develop individual opinions.