usually translated by political theorists as“reason”or“rationality,”has a broader meaning in Greek
as“word,”a“telling,”or“story.”Rather than understandingthe divided line as a“ladder”with steps
that lead one higher and higher away from image-making, the embeddedness of allegories, images,
and stories are essential to human language and understanding.
Interestingly, Plato’s use of storytelling as part of his dialogs reflects contemporary research on
how human beings behave in small group discussions. In one-on-one or small group discussions,
research has shown that participants do not rely on facts and logical argumentation; instead, they
tend to engage more in the context of the discussion by telling stories about themselves, their
families, or events on the news.^39 This study also indicates that during debate, participants use
narrative that agrees with some aspect of their interlocutor’s position to minimize conflict or dis-
agreement. Other studies reveal how social decision-making is often a product of comparing new
narratives to previous relevant stories.^40 Research also reveals that narrative accompanies rational
discourse, because it tends to be more persuasive in engaging participants in new ideas or con-
trasting perspectives.^41 Similar to Plato’s use of image-making, storytelling is not simply enter-
tainment, an embellishment, or secondary support for rational discussion, but is an essential aspect
of the way human beings converse with and learn from each other.
Conclusion
To return to our contemporary classrooms and the debate on whether a method can be derived from
the dialogs, Plato’s“stories”of Socrates offer little support for a contemporary systematic edu-
cational method with predetermined steps or specific learning objectives. Instead, Plato’s account is
more of an inspirational model of a pedagogical journey that embeds image-making as part of
dialogical encounters. Again, this is not to suggest that reasoned argument and factual evidence are
not important in Plato’s dialogs or our modern classrooms. It only suggests that a Socratic“method”
of teaching involves more than engaging students in“active”learning through a question-and-
answer format.
A teaching style inspired by Socrates must also engage students’imagination through stories that
foster understanding by identifying connections and dissonances. It would be misguided to look
for, or expect, a methodological procedure for how often or when to tell pedagogical stories. As we
also learn from Plato and from our own experience in classrooms, we should not speak the same
way or say the same things to everyone: a story that works in one section of a class or with one
student, falls on deaf ears with another.^42 At times, pedagogical stories are simply practical
examples that reiterate or reinforce challenging course material; yet, at other times, like Socrates’
complicated allegories, stories can be highly abstract and mediate beyond and between the logic of
inductive and deductive argumentation. The easiest way to start incorporating stories in the
classroom is to think of your own Cowboy Plato and tell stories of how that student struggled, but
figured out how to make sense of difficult course material.
Finally, if Plato presents Socrates as a pedagogical“image”worth imitating, this“mixture”of
logic and storytelling may be most crucial to how human beings learn and think through moral
questions, such as the best way to live and live together. Considering the emphasis that ancient
Greece and other cultural traditions placed on narrative as essential to moral education (such as
found in Aesop’sFables), Plato’s use of narrative as part of moral discussions should not be
undervalued. The dialog form, therefore, represents Plato’s potential answer to fifth-century
debate with the sophists on whether morality canbe taught. If it can be taught, it is through a social
activity of engaging with others by asking and answering questions, and telling stories which
engage us to think about the limitations of our opinions and what might be the best way to live.
Such an inquiry may never be complete, but as Plato’s metaphor suggests: education is not a
method, it is a journey.
18 Marlene K. Sokolon