Month: September 2014

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Questions

Nothing can be learnt without a question being asked. QuestionMy children range from 3 to 7. Every parent with children in this age group will remember their barrage of questions about every conceivable subject. Why, why, why..? Their brains are like sponges, soaking up every bit of information to make sense of their world. Children learn more in the first 7 years of their lives than in the remainder.

Something happens around 7 or 8 years of age and their questioning becomes less frequent. Is it because parents and teachers start asking all the questions and children are expected to come up with the answers? At Hackham East School we are working to turn this around. We are encouraging children to question. Teachers are only allowing children to put hands up to ask questions rather than to give answers. When a teacher asks a question, every child is expected to have an answer or an opinion. Every “I don’t know” is a learning opportunity.

The great women’s tennis player, Billie Jean King stated that every lost point was a research opportunity. “How could I have done that better?” More is learnt from mistakes than successes because one is prompted to ask questions about what to do to avoid making the same mistake again. Asking for help when something is not understood should be encouraged and not be seen as a sign of weakness. Billie Jean would not have been embarrassed to get feedback from her coach.

Parents and caregivers can assist at home by encouraging questioning. Ask your children what questions they asked during the day.

  • When a child asks a question, try answering with a question rather than an answer such as
    • What do you think? or What is your explanation?
    • Do you agree or disagree and why?
    • How would you decide about ……..?
  • Encourage questions beginning with Why, How, What if …

Why do children stop questioning? That is a very good question. Let us try to foster our children’s natural curiosity for learning by encouraging them to ask questions.

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The Learning Pit

I am a big Doctor Who fan. He is always able to solve the unsolvable by seeing the unobvious and deducing the implausible. He may need some assistance from his female companion or his sonic screw-driver but he always works out what to do to save the day. Despite having two hearts his skills are not superhuman rather those of problem solving through logic, deduction, perseverance, persistence and asking the right questions.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Developing the skills and strategies in dealing with the unknown and the new is something that all children will need to be successful in the future. The world that our children are growing into will be very different from our own. Change is occurring so quickly in everything. Technology is changing every aspect of work and society. Manual and skilled jobs are being replaced by robots and automation. Our children will be working in jobs that have not even been dreamt of yet. Adaptability and an open, learning mindset is key.

How do we assist children to develop these skills?

One cannot be a nimble thinker and problem solver if one is fearful of being stuck, fearful of making a mistake or fearful of the discomfort of not knowing what to do. We want children to have a go and be risk takers but we too often cotton wool them to the extent that we rob them of their opportunity to learn.

The Learning Pit is a good metaphor for talking to children about the learning process and resilience.The Learning Pit Getting stuck is where the best learning takes place. When we are stuck we might get negative feelings like discomfort, frustration, helplessness towards our learning. We hear children say, “I won’t do it.” or “I can’t do it.” If we intervene at this stage and rescue by doing it for them they will learn that getting stuck is a bad thing, that the negative feelings are bad and they will continually shy away from a challenge. They will not develop persistence or resilience toward learning.

As a child struggles with a problem get them to ask questions to clarify and explore the options. Answer their questions with questions rather then an answer so that they are doing the thinking and solving the problem themselves. Ask them where they might be able to find help – internet, Youtube etc and let them explore. As they begin to get themselves “unstuck”, they will gain confidence in their own abilities and develop an “I can do it!” attitude. This will benefit them throughout their lives.

Doctor Who thrives on challenge. He doesn’t give up. He isn’t rescued. He persists and succeeds.

Stuck? Great! Good learning happens when you are stuck.