Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers~ Voltaire
Questions are everywhere! They provide the spark for new insights along with smiles and wonder. Answers are what many seek; yet questions offer the way. We see this natural ability to question on full display every week during our residential program. Questions come as natural as breathing does for many children and almost as vital! Persistent inspection allows students to make sense of, pick apart, define, re-define and hopefully navigate the world around them. We encourage young learners to ask as many questions as they can think of. Sadly, the older we become the fewer questions we ask. We do not lose the ability to question, only the desire; possibly because most bosses and teachers are often more interested in answers, not questions.
Socrates provides an excellent role model as well as a blue print for why and how we question.
- To deeply probe student thinking, to help students begin to distinguish what they know or understand from what they do not.
- To foster students ability to ask questions along with engaging in dialogue in order to apply these skills in everyday life.
We as educators can model questioning strategies as well as creating a safe environment for practice. Further Socratic questioning highlights the importance of questioning in learning. It inspires us to dig deeper into our ideas along with improving our ability to become active and independent learners. Socrate's method can be broken down into four steps:
Elicit What do you think at this point? Clarify What do you mean by x?
Do you really mean x to apply in this or other cases?
Test How does x account for y?
How do you know? Why should I believe that?
Can that really be true given z?
Decide Can you come up with a new proposition given what you have just learned?
“No one can teach, if by teaching we mean the transmission of knowledge, in any mechanical fashion, from one person to another. The most that can be done is that one person to another. The most that can be done is that one person who is more knowledgeable than another, can by asking a series of questions, stimulate the other to think, and so cause him to learn for himself.” ~ Socrates.
Sources: http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=hsshonors
http://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers~ Voltaire
Questions are everywhere! They provide the spark for new insights along with smiles and wonder. Answers are what many seek; yet questions offer the way. We see this natural ability to question on full display every week during our residential program. Questions come as natural as breathing does for many children and almost as vital! Persistent inspection allows students to make sense of, pick apart, define, re-define and hopefully navigate the world around them. We encourage young learners to ask as many questions as they can think of. Sadly, the older we become the fewer questions we ask. We do not lose the ability to question, only the desire; possibly because most bosses and teachers are often more interested in answers, not questions.
Socrates provides an excellent role model as well as a blue print for why and how we question.
- To deeply probe student thinking, to help students begin to distinguish what they know or understand from what they do not.
- To foster students ability to ask questions along with engaging in dialogue in order to apply these skills in everyday life.
We as educators can model questioning strategies as well as creating a safe environment for practice. Further Socratic questioning highlights the importance of questioning in learning. It inspires us to dig deeper into our ideas along with improving our ability to become active and independent learners. Socrate's method can be broken down into four steps:
| Elicit | What do you think at this point? |
| Clarify |
What do you mean by x? Do you really mean x to apply in this or other cases? |
| Test |
How does x account for y? How do you know? Why should I believe that? Can that really be true given z? |
| Decide | Can you come up with a new proposition given what you have just learned? |
“No one can teach, if by teaching we mean the transmission of knowledge, in any mechanical fashion, from one person to another. The most that can be done is that one person to another. The most that can be done is that one person who is more knowledgeable than another, can by asking a series of questions, stimulate the other to think, and so cause him to learn for himself.” ~ Socrates.
Sources: http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=hsshonors
http://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/
