The Harkness table, Harkness method, or Harkness discussion is a teaching and learning method involving students seated in a large, oval configuration to discuss ideas in an encouraging, open-minded environment with only occasional or minimal teacher intervention.

Overview

The Harkness method is in use at many American

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

s and colleges and encourages discussion in classes. The style is related to the

Socratic method The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate) is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw o ...

. Developed at

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, the method's name comes from the oil magnate and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Edward Harkness Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940) was an American philanthropist. Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund, Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Nor ...

, who presented the school with a monetary gift in 1930. It has been adopted in numerous schools, such as St. Mark's School of Texas and The Episcopal School of Dallas, where small class-size makes it effective, but it remains impractical for larger classes. Harkness described its use as follows: :What I have in mind is classroomwhere tudentscould sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where ach studentwould feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods. Harkness practices can vary, most notably between humanities subjects such as English and history and technical subjects such as math and physics. Harkness Table ESD

References

External links

'Edward S. Harkness, 1874-1940'
Richard F. Niebling,

(PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness Table Teaching Phillips Exeter Academy