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Communication, In Your Corner, Student Learning, Thinking Frames
The Best Questions for Learning May Not Be Ours
As soon as children learn to speak, they begin to ask questions. We can even become frustrated and impatient with the number of questions children ask. Sometimes we may not feel we've the time to respond. At other times we may not know the answers, and we don’t have the energy to pursue them. Yet, questions are a crucial way for children to learn. Our responses can shut the door to asking and learning or open the door to further inquiry and more information.
Later as children enter school, they come to understand that the important questions are the questions that adults ask. These questions point the way to where adults want students to give their attention. In fact, student questions often are discounted and treated more as distractions than they’re honored, respected, and used as possibilities to generate learning. Consequently, students learn to explore less of what they don’t know and ask fewer questions.
Unfortunately, the messages students receive about their questions risk cutting off key paths to learning that can be generated by questions. When students aren’t encouraged to ask questions, they often discount their curiosity, tolerate their confusion, and default to the thoughts and attention leveraged by adults.
In a world that increasingly demands new ideas, thrives on discovery, and rewards novel insights, discouraging questions delivers a serious disservice to our learners. Alternatively, if we reacquaint students with their imagination, honor their curiosity, and encourage their questions, we place in their hands a powerful tool for learning within and beyond what the formal curriculum presents. However, for most students, we need to reteach the role and value of questions to stimulate and support their learning. Let’s explore four ways we empower students to enhance their learning through questions they develop and ask.
First, we can teach students to ask questions about their learning as they learn. For example, when students study a concept, reading text, or develop a skill, they can ask themselves questions about the meaning and application of what they’re learning. Their questions help them organize, focus, and absorb new information and strengthen their recall. In fact, creating and asking oneself questions while learning proves a more powerful learning tool than highlighting or underlining text or taking notes.
Second when students ask questions that are more significant than seeking clarification and direction, we can resist providing immediate answers and join them in their learning search. We might begin by probing the source and implications of student questions to gain full understanding of what’s driving their questions. Further, we can engage with students to find answers, even when we might have a ready answer we could share. When we learn with students, we honor their interest and curiosity, and we provide them with approaches, options, and modeling they can use to learn independently.
Third, we can teach students to frame worthy questions about their learning. For example, we might introduce a taxonomy, such as Bloom’s or Depth of Knowledge (DOK), to help students to understand and utilize multiple levels of thinking and complexity in questions they develop. Then we can coach students to ask deeper, more significant questions in class discussions, probe with deeper questions and thinking in their writing, and practice deeper reflection as they learn.
Fourth, we can leverage growing questioning expertise among students by having them create some or all the questions they’ll be asked on a quiz or exam. At first, we might think this approach to be unproductive because students would know the questions in advance. However, if we coach students to create an array of meaningful, complex, relevant questions, their responses will demonstrate learning that may go well beyond what would have been demonstrated by unfamiliar questions at risk of being misunderstood or confusing to students. In fact, the process of developing good questions leads to greater understanding of content and enhanced organization of what has been learned than responding to questions developed by someone else.
Asking questions isn't only a great way for young children to learn; questions are powerful drivers of learning regardless of age. Our challenge is to renew the natural tendency for children and young people to ask questions. However, we also can help them to frame, examine, and pursue questions that feature greater complexity, depth, and significance. When we do, we give them one of the most powerful tools for learning they can employ.
In Your Corner, Thinking Frames
Feeling as Though Nothing Is Going Right? Try This
There are times during the year when we may feel as though nothing is going right. Student behavior may be slipping, and students are not responding as we expect. Our lesson plans may feel as though they’re not penetrating student consciousness and sticking the way we want. Our relationships with colleagues and friends may feel strained or stuck and in need of repair. And, despite our busyness, we may feel that we’re not getting as much done or making the amount of progress as we want. The cumulative impact can be overwhelming and seem to ask more than we can give.
Yet, despite how we feel and how the situation may appear, rarely is it the case that nothing is working. Often, what’s not working is drawing so much of our attention, draining so much of our emotions, and sapping so much of our energy that we can’t see what is working well and not in need of fixing. In fact, close examination likely will reveal that far more is functioning well than is not.
Rather than attempting to “fix” everything or consider giving up, we’re wise to step back and take an objective look at what faces us. Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century Italian economist, proposed that in life 80% of the results we seek can be found in 20% of the issues we face. Dozens of subsequent research studies spanning business, sales, problem solving, investments, relationships, goals setting, and even learning have established that in most situations a focus on the correct 20% of a problem, situation, or effort will generate disproportionate positive results. The concept is now known as the Pareto Principle.
Psychologist Joseph Juran extended Pareto’s theory to include the importance of focusing on the “vital few” rather than the “trivial many.” Our challenge is not to change everything, but to focus on the key elements and aspects of our situation where adjustments can generate the greatest positive impact.
Let’s return to the examples shared in the first paragraph. It may seem that student behavior is universally bad. However, it’s more likely that a few students are creating the greatest number of problems, or that a few issues are driving reactions that spread more universally in the class. The secret to turning the situation around is not to change everything but institute an innovative approach. Rather, we can focus our attention on the subset of students who are the source of most misbehavior, analyze the behaviors that are problematic and their causes, and design an approach to address the source of the problem. Similarly, we might collect data on key issues that create the greatest concern among students and make adjustments that address those concerns without disrupting all routines and changing every expectation.
We might address our distress about lesson planning and instructional design by observing and collecting data regarding when and where students seem to “tune out.” The information we collect can help us to focus on the specific activities, approaches, and strategies that don’t resonate with students. Of course, we also can enlist our students to help us discover and address specific areas in need of attention and adjustment. Rather than having to change everything, we’re likely to discover that a few shifts, such as integrating student interests, providing greater flexibility and choice, and being more explicit about the purpose and relevance of what students are asked to learn will make a substantial difference.
When we think about relationships, we might consider which friends and colleagues mean the most to us and whose friendship we most want to maintain – think 20%. These are the people with whom we should aim to spend most of our social time and in whom we invest our emotions. Additionally, if our relationship concerns are with any of these people, we might think about 20% of the relationship that’s leading to conflict and distancing. These are the aspects of the relationship where we need to focus, invest, and fix. When we do, the other 80% likely will take care of itself.
Similarly, there almost always are more tasks to be done and goals to address than there is time. Here the Pareto Principle also can help us to prioritize our attention and energy. Experience and research hold that by focusing on the 20% of tasks that matter most we can achieve 80% of what we need to accomplish. Specifically, we might make a list of what we need to accomplish in a day or week. Then we can consider the one task or goal that if accomplished would have the greatest impact. Next, we move to the item from the list that would generate the second greatest impact. Before long we will have identified the 20% of the items on the list that will generate 80% of the success we seek. Other items can be addressed as time and energy allow, but we can be assured we will accomplish what matters most and will make the greatest difference.
It is natural to occasionally feel overwhelmed and uncertain as we face the challenges of life. However, we don’t have to give in to our feelings. When we step back and ask ourselves where lie the 20% that, if addressed, would make the greatest difference, we can find a path to success with the other 80%.
Behavior, In Your Corner, Student Learning, Thinking Frames
In Your Corner, Student Learning
Assessment and Curriculum, In Your Corner, Student Learning
In Your Corner, Student Learning, Thinking Frames
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