The Midwife as Matchmaker: Socrates and Relational Pedagogy

Abstract

The author argues that Classical Greek philosopher Socrates demonstrated deep appreciation for the importance of relations in education. He offers evidence that Socrates not only believed that matchmaking was important but also that he practiced the art. He considers why the philosopher believed that matchmaking was so important. He concludes that Socrates genuinely believed that the teacher-student relationship was vital to education and, hence, the philosopher might be anachronistically recognized as a chief proponent of relational pedagogy.