Project Report “The Little Socrates Amphitheatre”

August 30, 2026

“The Little Socrates Amphitheatre – A Space for Critical Thinking and Dialogue”

Livada, Arad | March – July 2026

The project “The Little Socrates Amphitheatre – A Space for Critical Thinking and Dialogue” created an open-air educational amphitheatre in the Science Garden in Livada, dedicated to dialogue, argumentation and critical thinking. The project was implemented by the Science Garden Association (Asociația Grădina Științei) between March and July 2026.

The idea comes from the Socratic method: learning begins with a question. We wanted students not just to give answers, but to ask “why?”, to form an opinion, support it with arguments and listen to different points of view.

The project brought together three components: argumentation workshops with students, open educational resources for teachers, and the construction of a permanent space open to the community.

The project was carried out with the support of the Fund for a Better Future in Communities (7th edition), developed by the Federation of Community Foundations in Romania with the support of Lidl Romania and coordinated in Arad by the Timișoara Community Foundation.

Critical thinking and argumentation workshops

Between March and July 2026, 13 age-appropriate workshops on critical thinking and argumentation took place, for students from 1st to 7th grade.

During the workshops, students:

discovered the Socratic method and the power of the question “Why?”;
discussed concrete topics, such as “Is burning rubbish a good way to get rid of it?”;
learned the difference between a simple preference and a reasoned opinion;
practised simple argument structures such as “I think… because…”;
moved gradually from oral to written argumentation;
wrote argumentative texts, in a series of three sessions with 7th-grade students.

The activities were interactive and dialogue-based. For the youngest children, argumentation was introduced through games and familiar situations; for older students, through writing exercises and individual feedback.

Educational resources for teachers

So that the activities can continue after the project ends, we created open educational resources, ready to use in the classroom:

an argumentation and critical thinking booklet for primary school, with step-by-step exercises for expressing opinions and building arguments;
a booklet for lower secondary school, focused on structuring and checking an argumentative text;
detailed lesson plans for both levels;
a booklet presenting the “Jugend debattiert” debate method, created in collaboration with Zara Chișevescu.

The resources can be downloaded free of charge here: Educational resources – The Little Socrates Amphitheatre

The activities were also documented in 8 videos, available on the association’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@AsociatiaGradinaStiintei

Building the Little Socrates Amphitheatre

The most visible legacy of the project is the open-air amphitheatre. We prepared the ground, then built and fitted out the space, with the help of volunteers who spent whole days on site.

The amphitheatre is a permanent educational facility. It will host argumentation and critical thinking workshops, debate clubs, “Școala Altfel” (“Different School” week) and “Săptămâna Verde” (“Green Week”) activities, science meetups and community events.

Public launch – 17 July 2026

On 17 July 2026, the amphitheatre was inaugurated with a public event at the Science Garden Association’s premises in Livada. More than 70 children, together with parents, volunteers, collaborators and members of the community, used the new space for the first time.

The evening’s programme included:

a public argumentation workshop in the amphitheatre, the project’s 13th workshop;
a screening of a film about the Universe;
an astronomy activity with Astroclub Galaxis, observing the planets through a telescope.

The inauguration was not just a celebration, but a demonstration of how the amphitheatre can be used for dialogue, science and community learning.

More impressions from the event can be viewed on our Instagram channel here: https://www.instagram.com/gradinastiintei/?hl=en

Project impact

Key results include:

more than 250 instances of children’s participation in the workshops and the launch event;
13 critical thinking and argumentation workshops;
1 open-air educational amphitheatre, built as a permanent space;
3 booklets and 2 lesson plans, freely available to teachers;
8 videos published on YouTube;
online promotion (Facebook and Instagram);
5+ collaborators and 5+ volunteers involved;
partnerships with Livada Secondary School, Zara Chișevescu and Astroclub Galaxis.

Throughout the workshops, children discovered step by step what it means to make an argument. The youngest started by sharing their opinion and backing it up with a simple “because…”, learned to listen to one another in dialogue, and then moved on to writing, linking each opinion to an argument and an example. The 7th graders went further and, with individual feedback, came to write coherent argumentative texts. In this way, oral debate and written argumentation became real thinking tools for them, and at the amphitheatre’s launch the same methods were put into practice in a public workshop, in front of the community.

The steps are built, the stories are just beginning

“We wanted to build not just an amphitheatre, but a place where children have the courage to ask ‘why?’, to stand up for their ideas and to listen to others. We want it to be a lively place, open to the community, where education, science and art come together naturally. And the best part is only just beginning: the steps are built, but the stories that will fill them are yet to be written.”

— The Science Garden Association team

We invite you to follow our upcoming activities at the Little Socrates Amphitheatre. You can find more photos and materials from the project on our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages.

The project “The Little Socrates Amphitheatre – A Space for Critical Thinking and Dialogue”, implemented by the Science Garden Association, is funded through the @Fund for a Better Future in Communities, 7th edition, a national programme supporting community initiatives for education, developed by @Federaţia Fundaţiile Comunitare din România – FFCR with the support of @Lidl Romania and coordinated in Arad by @Fundația Comunitară Timișoara.

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