In any classroom, there are two kinds of students: the ones that ask any question that comes to mind, and the ones that get annoyed with the number of questions that are being asked from the other group of students. The latter group would tend to classify the former group as "annoying" or "asking stupid questions". I personally found myself in the middle of these two groups of students, wanting to ask questions but afraid of the potential of asking a "stupid" question. However, what would happen if as an education culture, we praised questions and encouraged them to be asked?
After reading A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, I have come to appreciate the art of asking good, powerful questions. Berger bases this book around the creativity that can be sparked when a series of thought-out questions are asked. These three questions are "Why..?", "What if...?", and "How...?". When these three questions are asked in succession, creative problem solving is soon to follow.
When questions are asked, powerful changes can be made. However, I have noticed that there has been a culture within learning spaces and businesses where blind compliance is praised and questioning is labeled as "trouble-making". After reflecting on this in chapter four, I wonder what if as a society we praised powerful questioning? What would happen to cultures within environments? I predict that if powerful questioning happens, a culture of encouragement and growth would soon follow.
When educators encourage the "Why?/What if?/How?" format for their students, it allows students to "refuse to accept [their] existing reality" (Berger, 2014, p.12). This questioning is the first step in Stanford's Design Thinking Process. When students ask questions, it naturally encourages them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers, which is a 21st Century Skill that is needed in the adult world. When students ask questions about an existing problem, they are more likely to try to solve those problems. This skill is something that needs to be encouraged more starting at a young age so that the progression of society is not stagnant when the students move on to greater things. The Designing Thinking Process begins with questioning.
One aspect that Berger discusses in chapter three of this book is the concept of looking at problems with a "vuja de" lens. This requires viewing old ideas from a new perspective (Berger, 2014, p.84). Many times when humans look at the same problem for too long, we become blind to the perspectives that can lead to new solutions. This lens makes me reflect on my teaching practices and why I teach the way that I do. One realization that I had when reflecting back on this was related to the curriculum program I use. When I first started teaching at my school, I was told to teach a program a certain way. There was no justification for why I should teach that way, only to do it. "The U.S. climate of high-stakes testing and scripted curriculums makes it difficult for education stakeholders to infuse creativity into teaching practices" (Henricksen & Mishra, 2013). Now, after comparing Berger's A More Beautiful Question with Learning from Creative Teachers, I have realized that I can teach in more creative ways than solely reading a program script. There are innovative ways to incorporate curriculum program content without having to read a confusing script. I just need to ask myself, "How are expert teachers teaching this concept?" and I am already taking the next step to better myself for my students.
Overall, I want to move away from disregarding "stupid" questions in my classroom. Now, when I hear a student ask a question that may seem naive, I plan to coach them to reformat their questions into the "Why?/What if?/How?" format to push their abilities and see learning flourish. One simple way that I plan to incorporate this into the next school year is by changing my verbiage at the end of lessons. I used to say "any questions, comments, or concerns?" to prompt students to reflect on what they had learned. Now, I plan to switch this to say, "what are two questions that you have about what you learned today?". By changing the way that I end lessons, it will allow for students to be metacognitive about the content taught in the lesson and prompt them to not accept what I taught as reality, but to push forward for a true understanding of content material.
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