There is a cliche saying that, ‘There is no such thing as a dumb question.” Tell that to a teacher who has just started an engaging discussion in a class and a kid undermines the flow of the conversation with a dumb, often unrelated question. The reality is that questions have innate and even measurable value and there is depth and quality to good question asking.
Think about how important good questioning is in the new world of AI. We need not look far on social media these days to find a post about how to generate intelligent prompts… intelligent questions, well posed, and designed to give you back optimum responses. Design the right question and you increase the chances of an ideal answer.
What’s the best way to promote good questioning in schools? How do we teach ‘Asking good questions?’
At Inquiry Hub we have students design their own inquiries. They take a course developed around the students figuring out what their inquiry question is, then answering it. And they don’t do this once, they do this several times over the year for their first two years, then in Grade 11 they design a full year course.
All the while, students are asking questions, then seeking answers. It’s the practice of asking the questions and not just seeking the answers that makes this process special. They aren’t just asking questions Google or AI can produce answers to. They are not answering a question the teacher asked. They are forming the questions and thus the direction of the learning.
You don’t start asking better and better questions just by answering other people’s questions. You don’t ask better and better questions without practicing forming the questions yourself. Students need to be designing the questions. Because if they are only in charge of answering them, there will be tools and upcoming technologies that will find the same or better answers, faster. The future innovators of the world will be better at writing the best questions, not just answering them.
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I agree with you about the importance of questions David. However, I was left wondering lately about questions and connections after reading a comment by Carl Jung about loneliness:
“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.”
Source: Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung (and Aniela Jaffé)
I wonder if the challenge faced is the stuff in the periphery, such as as listening and collecting information. Although there maybe no ‘dumb questions’, I wonder about the wider environment in which the dumb question is being asked and how it is valued. Here I am reminded about David Weinberger’s saying that, “the smartest person in the room is the room.” I wonder if the challenge then isn’t necessarily about becoming an expert or necessarily asking the perfect question, instead it is how to create ‘smart rooms’ which value diversity, collaboration and allow for the emergence of new ideas?
Valid points Aaron. Makes me think: How do you get to the best questions, if you aren’t in an environment where you can ask any question and get feedback? What would a class look like if students felt they couldn’t ask a question that might sound dumb to others? The room wouldn’t feel too smart then.
I really appreciate the insights, thanks for sharing.
See LinkedIn comments here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidtruss_the-best-questions-activity-7246861648500547584-syw8