Socratic Launch (20 min)

The very first thing you will do in your guide tryout is lead a 15 minute Socratic discussion called a Socratic launch. These discussions are a huge part of learning at Acton and a daily responsibility of the guides. The following resources will help you as you prepare to lead one Socratic Launch. Prepare your own launch to be simple and fun for ages 4-7.

Launches have three parts:

The Launch
First, choose which Rules of Engagement (ROE) learners want to stress or measure to keep the discussion on track and improve the quality of the dialogue.

Example Rules of Engagement:
In Socratic Discussions, I promise to:
- Discovery
  - Be on time and prepared.
  - Take a stand.
  - Be concise.
  - Do not repeat points already made.
  - Provide evidence and reasoning.
  - Link to previous comments. (Use “I agree” or “I disagree.”)
  - Listen with an open mind and consider new evidence.
  - Focus and do not distract.
- Spark

- - Eyes on speaker
  - Listening ears
  - Quite mouths

Then, place the learners in the shoes of a protagonist facing a difficult decision, just like a hero on a Hero’s Journey:

Imagine this:
You are a [______] in the land of [______], facing the following dilemma [______].
What do you do next: [______] or [______]?

Main Discussion
Ask three (or so) anchor questions to drill deeper into the dilemma, dissect an example, examine a process, or force rank choices in an action plan.
Close
At the end of most launches, there is a request for “lessons learned” and reflection or a call to action (or both).

The primary goal of a Guide is to model excellent launches so learners can begin leading launches as soon as possible.

To help you with preparing a Socratic launch for your Guide Tryout, I have provided an AI launch generation tool. It is not perfect but can be of great help to you in creating questions you can use for your Socratic launch.

Tip: Once image generates you can right click on it and open image in new tab to show during launch