Introduction and Reasoning
There are two major premises and arguments to this useful technique.
Rothstein and Santana (2015) suggest that observations and research illustrate that students are living in a world where others create the questions, others remain the experts. In recent years, the implementation of standardized tests pushed teachers to focus on backward designing questions that students could experience in relation to their specific state assessment. In doing so, education has devalued the core of education for students, their ability to inquire, hit road blocks in question and solutions, and determine what questions are the right path in similar situations. This begins with students learning to ask their own questions.
Rothstein and Santana (2015) state, "The rigorous process of learning to develop and ask questions offers students the invaluable opportunity to become independent thinkers and self-directed learners" (p. 3). In the end, these are the two essential goals of education in a democratic nation. People must be able to think on their own and not just develop patterns of thinking, but learn to question everything presented as truth. The continual cycle of inquiry jumpstarts a path of inquiry that can never be shut down. Those thinkers question the lack of sound in a Batman-Bane fight scene or government agency's refusal to release information to the public.
Rothstein and Santana (2015, p. 12) also provide outside research on the affect questions have on different age groups:
- All students should learn how to formulate their own questions.
- All teachers can easily teach this skill as part of their regular practice.
Rothstein and Santana (2015) suggest that observations and research illustrate that students are living in a world where others create the questions, others remain the experts. In recent years, the implementation of standardized tests pushed teachers to focus on backward designing questions that students could experience in relation to their specific state assessment. In doing so, education has devalued the core of education for students, their ability to inquire, hit road blocks in question and solutions, and determine what questions are the right path in similar situations. This begins with students learning to ask their own questions.
Rothstein and Santana (2015) state, "The rigorous process of learning to develop and ask questions offers students the invaluable opportunity to become independent thinkers and self-directed learners" (p. 3). In the end, these are the two essential goals of education in a democratic nation. People must be able to think on their own and not just develop patterns of thinking, but learn to question everything presented as truth. The continual cycle of inquiry jumpstarts a path of inquiry that can never be shut down. Those thinkers question the lack of sound in a Batman-Bane fight scene or government agency's refusal to release information to the public.
Rothstein and Santana (2015, p. 12) also provide outside research on the affect questions have on different age groups:
- Young Children: "Children are natural question-askers. They have to learn how to adapt to a complex and changing environment. But whether they continue to ask questions...depends in large part on how adults respond to them" (Sternberg, 1973).
- Students in grade and high school: "All the knowledge we have is a result of our asking questions; indeed...question-asking is the most significant intellectual tool human beings have. Is it not curious, then, that the most significant intellectual skill available to human beings is not taught in school? I can't resist repeating that: The most significant intellectual skill available to human beings is not taught in school (Zernike, 2002).
Zernike, K. (2002, August 4). Tests are not just for kids. New York Times.
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2015). Make just one change: Teach students to ask their own questions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Schneider, B. (1973). Answering Questions and Questioning Answers a Reply to Levin. The Journal of Social Psychology, 89(2), 301-302. doi:10.1080/00224545.1973.9922603.
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2015). Make just one change: Teach students to ask their own questions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Schneider, B. (1973). Answering Questions and Questioning Answers a Reply to Levin. The Journal of Social Psychology, 89(2), 301-302. doi:10.1080/00224545.1973.9922603.