Putting Questions First

When we teach, the temptation to talk while others dutifully listen is overwhelming. The teacher has experience that the students lack in the domain in question. She IS the teacher.

Multiple reasons justify the temptation. The community or someone with the authority to do so has designated one person to have a special role in learning. Someone has been told he or she is THE TEACHER. In addition, teachers understandably feel more in control, more efficient, more responsible when it is they who are active. Teachers see themselves understandably as the movers for the learning, the essential stimulus.

But learning is a participatory sport. At some level, teachers surely appreciate that reality. Even a teacher who performs his function solely as a speaker, lecturer, or demonstrator knows she needs to assign homework or practice activities.

But what if a statement is just a disguised series of questions that were we to ask them, or encourage our students to ask them, would not our fundamental role be to explain the necessity of those questions for deep learning, as well as the creation of a climate in which the fundamental question is regarded with more respect than the self-confident assertion, even when the latter is coming from the mouth of a knowledgeable teacher?
If this approach is generally valid for teaching, it is especially functional for teaching critical thinking. Nothing about critical thinking is natural; in addition, the general culture does not fawn over and elaborately reward those who practice critical thinking. Hence, someone learning critical thinking especially needs to learn the self-censorial skills of asking regular, proficient questions.

One can justifiably make important distinctions among various kinds of questions in terms of their comparative roles and efficacy as facilitators for careful belief formation. But initially, teachers must struggle with their internal demons that tell them that questions are an unwelcome interruption in the smooth flow of their teaching and then provide what will be strange and frightening for many learners—an environment that encourages questions, as a source of wonder and exploration of options.