There have always been plenty of questions in schools, but most of them have come from the teacher, often at the rate of one question every 2-3 seconds.
Unfortunately, these rapid fire questions are not the questions we need to encourage because they tend to be RECALL questions rather than questions requiring higher level thought.
The most important questions of all are those asked by students as they try to make sense out of data and information. These are the questions which enable students to Make Up Their Own Minds.
Powerful questions - Smart Questions, if you will - are the foundation for Information Power, Engaged Learning and Information Literacy.
Sadly, most studies of classroom exchanges in the past few decades report that student questions have been an endangered species for quite some time. (Goodlad, Sizer, Hyman, etc.)
Information-savvy schools should adopt a basic questioning toolkit and then blend it explicitly into each curriculum area where such skills belong.
Unfortunately, these rapid fire questions are not the questions we need to encourage because they tend to be RECALL questions rather than questions requiring higher level thought.
The most important questions of all are those asked by students as they try to make sense out of data and information. These are the questions which enable students to Make Up Their Own Minds.
Powerful questions - Smart Questions, if you will - are the foundation for Information Power, Engaged Learning and Information Literacy.
Sadly, most studies of classroom exchanges in the past few decades report that student questions have been an endangered species for quite some time. (Goodlad, Sizer, Hyman, etc.)
Information-savvy schools should adopt a basic questioning toolkit and then blend it explicitly into each curriculum area where such skills belong.
