Behind every piece of knowledge lies a question. So it should follow that, if we teach learners to ask good questions, the effects should be profound. You can’t analyse, enquire and evaluate – all ‘thinking skills’ mentioned in the National Curriculum guidance document – without being able to frame appropriate questions. So questions are undoubtedly powerful tools for learning and we would expect questioning to be practised in schools that take thinking and learning seriously. Questions also create energy; it is almost impossible not to try to answer a question once it has been asked. And, of course, to ask ‘what …if’ questions is a basic creative act. Questioning depends on dispositions that are essential for learning:
- Ignorance. I am in a state of not-knowing, and I realise that I do not know.
- Perplexity. I am experiencing perplexity (puzzlement, uncertainty, and so on) as a consequence of not knowing.
- Need. I feel a necessity to know.
- Belief. I commit myself to the truth of the question (I believe its presuppositions are true, its words are as I intend them, and so forth.)
- Faith. I am confident that the unknown is knowable.
- Courage. I venture to face the unknown and its consequences both within myself and the world.
- Will. I resolve to undertake to know.
(From J. T. Dillon, Student Questions and Individual learning, Educational Theory 36: 333–41)
Why then don’t pupil’s continue to develop their questioning powers and dispositions as they grow older? One reason is that the dispositions pupils require for questioning become more difficult to sustain in school environments dominated by national tests and peer cultures wherein learning is seen as ‘uncool’. Another is that pupils have not been sufficiently encouraged to question, their questioning skills have not been systematically developed and they don’t see the benefits of persistent questioning. What, then, can we do to encourage student questions. J.T. Dillon, a world authority on the subject suggests the following basic strategies:
- Stop asking so many questions yourself
- Invite pupils’ questions in spoken and written form. Collect, discuss and analyse pupils’ questions
- Encourage pupils to question other pupils during discussion
- Welcome questions when they come
- Build lessons around pupils’ questions
However, to take pupil’s questions seriously we need to loosen our grip on presenting content in pre-packaged chunks that leave little room for ‘big questions’ from pupils. This is not to say that some kinds of useful questioning cannot flourish within a rigidly organised curriculum. It is just that following through one’s own questions, after realising their implications, is an experience that is very motivating and intellectually enriching. I offer the following ideas for building on Dillon’s suggestions:
Introduce the concept of ‘a question’. This is an activity for young children. Collect or make up a set of questions and statements. Make the questions appear in different ways – not just starting with standard words like ‘why’ and ‘how’. Read out the questions and get pupils to do a particular action when they hear a question (like standing up) Older children could sort written questions and non-questions into piles. Talk about what is common to all questions.
Discuss ‘kinds of questions’. Ask pupils to sort a set of questions under headings of their own making. See what kinds of headings they come up with and discuss those with the class. Regularly talk with children in order to pay attention to different kinds of questions.