“The ability to figure out what hasn’t been figured out and see what hasn’t been seen is a significant advantage.”
We don’t seem to be teaching our students to ask questions. Many times in school, I see teachers and administrators wanting students to follow directions and do the work without asking questions. Of course, you have simple questions about the procedures or the expectations but where are the deeper questions? Where are the questions about why they are doing it? Where are the questions about how they could do it better or faster or more meaningful?
When I look at all the inventions that have been created, I wonder about how they came about. Surely, someone had to be asking the right questions. When we moved from outhouses to indoor plumbing, someone had to ask questions about transporting water inside a building and about waste removal, and many other things that I can’t imagine. When refrigerators were invented, someone had to ask questions about how to make them work. These things could not have happened if someone hadn’t asked the right questions.
Yet, how do we teach students to ask the right questions? One way is to model this for them. When I see something, I ask my questions out loud. I let them see how I look for the answers. I encourage my students into helping me ask other questions and sometimes they come up with things I hadn’t thought of before. This helps them get beyond the simple questions into more critical thinking. I want students to feel comfortable with asking the questions without worrying about feeling silly or afraid of being ridiculed. There are no questions considered bad or silly. As students get more comfortable with asking questions, the easier it will be for them to think of more complex questions rather than worrying about what others are thinking. Questioning broadens their horizons because it helps them look beyond their immediate surroundings.
How do you teach students to ask the right questions? Please share.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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