Questions

There are many numbers and phrases being thrown around these days to gather agreement to a particular point of view. Often two things happen. First they are thrown out to the public without background information or explanation. Second, interpretation of those numbers and ideas can be misleading because of the semantics and often emotions involved in the presentation. The general public is bombarded by information accurate, complete, detailed, or not.
In public school, late elementary and middle grades, I had teachers who taught us to question and not take numbers or catch phrases at face value. We were encouraged to ask questions such as: What is the source of this information? What is the background? What is the purpose? What kind of instrument was used to get these results? How many people were involved? Does it follow common sense? Is a definition needed? What has been omitted? What is the context from which this is lifted? Compared to what? Is there a second source with similar results? Do these numbers involve people? What should be looked at next? What was the intent for these results and what are the purposes of sharing this information? So what does the information tell us?
In this age of instant information and “short bites” many people often forget to ask those questions and jump to quick uninformed decisions or opinions. I give many journalists lots of credit for checking and asking the questions for their in depth stories. This should be each of us asking before starting to believe and repeat what we hear or see. Instead when questions are asked of the person who is speaking and giving information the questioner is often ignored and dismissed. The questioner is often felt to be a foe that is challenging or ignorant for asking rather than being respected or even given an answer that satisfies the question.
In this time of access and inundation of information everyone needs to be automatically asking questions. Think about all the places we are inundated with untested/unconfirmed information. Everyone needs to be wary; to ask questions.
Years ago there were public school educators who developed lessons involving questioning around advertisements. It usually involved families developing questions around a product the family was interested in. Then in class there was the sharing of questions and adding more, finding results and much discussion. With today’s curriculums there is not room for this type of education.
With the current packed mandated curriculums there is often no time to directly develop strong questioning skills which are part of critical thinking which leads to problem solving and creative thought. Many experienced educators realize the importance of questions with depth and add it to the classroom on their own.
In friendly, comfortable gatherings what fun to throw out some of those ideas for great discussion. Try asking questions rather than just making statements and then hearing what others are thinking. (Hint: Not as a challenge but to really listen to others.) Ah, truly listening is another critical thinking skill that needs to be cultivated.
Comments and statements that inspired me to ask questions and write this blog include; only 16% of our students are graduating ready for college, Race to the Top, 17% of people are under employed for their education, our fourth and seventh graders don’t know how to write.
In my opinion this condition of just accepting and blindly repeating everything is dangerous to us all. Constantly questioning is a skill that in these times of access to information, voluntarily and involuntarily, everyone needs to develop.