Socratic Summit 2025
This week a group of Year 9 and 10 students attended the first ever Socratic Summit at Newington College’s Centre for Critical Thinking and Ethics.
Students began the day by forming groups with students from other Sydney schools where they began to consider what is Art and what is not, by forming tentative and firm criterion. They developed their judgement and reasoning skills and explained their position while being open-minded to challenges from others with different perspectives.
Next, students undertook a taste test of ten jellybean flavours and considered qualities such as texture, taste and flavour intensity before selecting their most and least favourite flavour. After polling the group they considered whether the taste of a jellybean can be universally good or whether goodness is relative to personal taste. This introduced the students to the concepts of subjective taste and objective criteria, which was then applied to other art forms.
After lunch, students questioned if Art is Art because it has been created by an artist. Once they began to contemplate this, their perspectives were challenged as they looked at art works created by a pig and then a gorilla before being shown some AI generated images. Students reflected upon their earlier definition and criteria of Art and whether this had changed.
To conclude the day, students considered a variety of factors that contribute to living a good life and then ranked these in order of importance. They discussed whether it is necessary for us to reach consensus on what we do or don’t like and whether we like things because they are good or if it is because things are good that we like them.
The entire event stretched all participants’ thinking skills and the girls spoke very positively about their learning and enjoyment of the day. Thank you to Dr Britta Jensen and her team for organising the day, which was very valuable for all.
Below follows reflections from two of the students who attended.
“Attending the Socratic Summit was a really memorable experience as it challenged me to think in other ways and step out of my comfort zone. Meeting students from different schools made the discussions even more interesting, as we realised how many possibilities there were to one given question. The activities were engaging and hands-on allowing us to collaborate effectively. The day reminded me that Philosophy isn’t about finding the “right” answer, but about staying curious and open-minded to explore new things.” Olivia (Year 10)
“Taking part in the Socratic Summit at Newington College was a memorable and fun experience. We were put into groups with numerous students from other schools, and in those groups we participated in many activities and philosophical discussions based on the topic ‘aesthetics’. This event allowed us to think critically and gain insight into other people’s perspectives.” Hannah (Year 10)
Ms Sarah Thompson, Leader of Innovative and Global Connections
