It is a matter of attitude, approach and social savviness, rather than the 'method.' Give somebody who's socially savvy the socratic method, or something else,

It is a matter of attitude, approach and social savviness, rather than the 'method.' Give somebody who's socially savvy the socratic method, or something else, they'll do well. Give somebody who argues with people any method, they'll fail. The key takeaway here is 'argue' - if you argue with people, you are not doing it right. There's really no situation in life where that's necessary or the optimal approach. Most people don't know this, so... It is a lot like yelling at or hitting people - if you don't realize that if you stoop down to that level more than a couple of times a year, YOU are the asshole, no amount of socratic or otherwise is going to help. The standard for behaviour simply needs to change. Once you raise the bar to 'talking down to people is not acceptable' - all of a sudden you'll find that arguments don't happen anymore, who is there to argue with? It is either a negotiation or a conversation that you are choosing to have. Most teachers don't know this. The amount of talking down to kids is incredible, they just don't know any better. I saw 'A most violent year' recently - it is a great example of how to handle stressful situations. Should be mandatory viewing for all adults really.