Part 3
Questions and Teaching
By Melvin Freestone, September 2012.
The role of teachers in ‘learner led’ education shifts to one of facilitator, coach, critical friend, manager, and where appropriate expert. In so doing they help learners to-
- Connect with the subject matters deemed important for living and working in the twenty first century, including those set out by various curriculum authorities
- Deepen their thinking and understanding within existing areas of experience as well as engage with new fields inquiry and endeavour
- Make diverse connections within and between different ideas and practices, and thereby become more innovative and resourceful
- Become independent and control their own learning without overlooking important issues, ideas, values and skills they need to explore and develop, and
- Ground their learning in ‘real-life’ contexts and challenges related to their everyday lives.
The challenge for teachers is one of flexibility and agility in facilitating and managing learners to work individually and in groups of varying sizes, and to use available learning spaces well. Directing learners to different sources, providing input and where appropriate direct teaching are just as important in ‘learner led’ education as they have been at any time in the past.
Focus questions can be used in increasingly sophisticated ways as learning proceeds. A pattern of progressive development is outlined in the table.
Focus question |
Progressive Development
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Making simple connections around factual material and observations from investigations |
Searching for explanations and discovering different combinations | Exploring interrelationships, consequences, impacts and interventions as well as potential actions | Extrapolating explanations, actions, interrelationships and consequences to different contexts | |
How is it changing? | Change can be observed, examined and recorded | Change in particular situations has causes and effects | Change has consequences that can be predicted and impacts modified |
Consequences and impacts of change can vary and be varied in different contexts |
What is our responsibility? | Actions by individuals and groups affect other people | Choices can have positive and negative effects people and systems | Informed choices require reliable information, balanced judgements and actions | Principles for making balanced judgements and taking action vary in different contexts |
What is it like? | The features of ‘things’ can be observed and recorded | Different aspects of ‘things’ and how they fit together can be explained | Relationships between different aspects of ‘things’ can be explained and effects predicted | Generalisations about form, structure and design can be applied in different contexts |
How does it work? | How different aspects of ‘things’ work together can be investigated | How different ‘things’ interact with each other can be explained | Interactions, sequences and mechanisms within ‘things’ can be explained and predicted | Generalisations about the functioning of systems can be applied in different contexts |
Why is it like it is? | The consequences of ideas and actions can be observed and recorded | Causes and effects can be explained and consequences predicted | Analysis of causes and effects identifies the value of ideas, actions and means to intervene | Generalisations about ‘cause and effect’ can be applied in different contexts and systems |
How is it connected to other things? | The connections between ‘things’ can be observed, mapped and recorded | The way ‘things’ are connected explains their significance, impact and value | Interactions within and between ‘things’ can be understood and appropriate action taken | Generalisations about interrelationships between systems apply in many contexts |
How is it ethical? | The worth of things and the values and beliefs behind them can be described | Values, cultures, and backgrounds affect how people think and act | Values, beliefs and views on the worth of things can change with time and circumstance | Generalisations around values-beliefs-worth help in understanding different communities |
The range of explorative questions that can be applied in pursuit of focus questions is diverse. Careful consideration needs to be given to where they might fit into different stages in inquiry processes with the precise language determined by what learners are doing, want to do, can do and need to do. Consequently, the actual questions posed may be quite distant from the samples of ‘starters’ that follow.
Spotlight on querying – samples only
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Spotlight on clarifying – samples only
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Spotlight on reasoning – samples only
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Spotlight on viewpoints – samples only
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Spotlight on consequence – samples only
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Spotlight on speculation – samples only
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Spotlight on ethical issues – samples only
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Spotlight on alternatives – samples only
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The artistry involved in combining generative questions, focus questions and explorative questions is demanding. The extract from a teacher’s planning for an inquiry entitled Our Country illustrates how different types of question can be incorporated into an inquiry in a carefully sequenced combination.
Our CountryIntroductory performances
Guided performances
Culminating performances Require learners to-
Give learners the following ‘instruction’ to guide the presentations of their work. Using the knowledge you have gained indicate ‘what is happening now’ and make some reasonable assumptions about ‘what might happen’ in the next 50 years. Your presentation must be about the specific area you researched and you should acknowledge all resources used or referred to in your presentation. Presentations may be in the form of reports, multimedia productions, slide shows, dramatic role plays, posters, models…, or whatever, and combinations of these. |
The pursuit of answers to questions opens up opportunities for working collaboratively with others. The shared action that results exposes different perceptions of experience, different interpretations, different understandings and different ways of making sense of experience. Rich learning accrues from appreciation and exploration of these differences.
Collaborative communities of learners generate all kinds of leadership opportunities. Provided the environment is appreciative and supportive what learners can achieve should be no surprise just a rewarding manifestation of their capabilities. ‘Natural leaders’, previously hidden, often emerge through shared action, personal recognition and community celebration.
When the burgeoning of computer based resources, often referred to as ICT, is added into the equation some learners may be more up-to-date in a given area than teachers. Hence the power of knowledge is more evenly shared than when rote learning and didactic teaching dominate. Yet the need for guidance and expertise from teachers to enable learners to move from ‘novice’ to ‘expert’ remains unchanged.
Building learners’ capacity to ask effective questions is essential for life-long learning. The personal empowerment gained is huge.
To go to part 1 or 2 of the series, click here. | |
Part 1 Question and Learning | |
Part 2 Question and Direction | |
About the author – Melvin Freestone |