The Harkness method is in use at many American
boarding schools and colleges and encourages discussion in classes. The style is related to the
Socratic method. Developed at
Phillips Exeter Academy, the method's name comes from the oil magnate and
philanthropist Edward Harkness, who presented the school with a monetary gift in 1930. It has been adopted in numerous schools, such as
The Dunham School,
St. Mark's School of Texas,
Germantown Academy,
Milton Academy,
The Lawrenceville School,
The College Preparatory School,
The Masters School,
Ensworth School,
Seoul Foreign School, The Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi where small class-size makes it effective. However, Harkness remains impractical for schools with larger class sizes. Harkness described its use as follows: :What I have in mind is [a classroom] where [students] could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where [each student] would 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. ==References==