The Power of a Question

Crafting Questions

This weeks Moment focuses on our students as they craft questions, as part of our recent Intensive Study day. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (lnk), we asked them to spend 10 minutes ‘question storming’ around these Global Goals. The process of asking question after question, helps students realize what they ‘need to know’, which focuses their research on the goal of a deeper understanding of the issue.
For many of us, middle school involved seeing the world through the eyes of the teacher. Student questions were asked in order to clarify, but they were not encouraged as a means of discovery. By placing a pedagogical focus on modelling effective questioning for our students, and providing them with the time and space to apply this important skill, our students practice seeing the world through their own eyes.

Finding the Hidden Truth
Nothing has the power to illuminate truth like a well crafted question. We live in the age of ‘alternative facts’ where truth can be hidden, falsified and confusing. It can be hard to discern fact from fiction, and nearly impossible to wade through the mass of information that flows on the internet. But if we maintain an ethic of questioning and persist in asking those questions, we find better answers and the truth comes to light.

Knowing how to ask great questions is an important skill that needs to be encouraged.