Good Q&A challenges students

THE QUALITY of questions we ask our students reveals the depth and dearth of our thoughts.

How we ask those literal what, when, where and who, plus why, how, what-if and suppose, influences the way our students think.

The classroom is a laboratory for cultivating the skill of asking and answering good questions. Students acquire this skill from their teacher. If they are asked good questions, they will most likely ask good questions, too.

A good question-and-answer session creates an active, engaging class and students feel excited to ask follow-up questions. A good question can jump-start a dull day.

Students enjoy an exchange of wit and words. Good questions sharpen minds.

Divergent questions help students choose what is best among many options and possibilities. Convergent questions bring minds together on a common plane. Questions validate students’ knowledge.

So let students’ minds converge and diverge. Good questions let their minds wander, lingering for a little while on certain points. Good questions probe and disturb, challenge and stupefy, awe and inspire.

Cooperative, argumentative discourses, like debates, use skillful questioning that stimulates critical thinking.

A debate can be strictly formal, allowing participants to speak only within an allotted time, as in Oxford-Oregon or Parliamentary-style. It can be as informal as a casual conversation between and among students.

Either way, students must be taught the art of questioning. A good question “kills” an opponent’s chance to rebut or to make a point or stand. A good question solidifies affirmation or negation. It can dumbfound, confuse or paralyze the opposing team.

A good question in the classroom excites outspoken students but it should never be assumed that the quiet ones are not as interested. The diffident, taciturn students may not speak despite a teacher’s encouragement. But, as a teacher, do not deprive yourself of your shy students’ thoughts. Ask them to write down their answers. Do not be surprised if you get blown away by what they write.

Sarcastic query puts the teacher’s character and intellect to the test. Notice how students behave while a teacher is taking his/her time over a question. Notice how they eavesdrop as a teacher expresses his/her views on such topics as religion, gender or politics.

For a teacher to tell the class to forget a classmate’s sarcastic question is a misstep. Teachers must understand that sarcasm is poetry and poets are very rare these days.

One common escape or excuse among teachers for ignoring a sarcastic question is to label it as “stupid.”

An overused cliché among cowards is “a stupid question deserves a stupid answer.”

A dismissive or antagonistic attitude toward a student’s stupid question will not help establish a teacher’s credibility. Brushing aside or turning down a question may make students feel reluctant to ask again. A teacher daring to answer a challenging question will inspire his/her students to be brave, too.

A teacher is a channel for the students’ search for answers. A teacher must not fail his/her students, in any way.

Apart from asking sarcastic questions, some students can also be good at playing pretend. They ask even if they know, obviously with the intention to outsmart the teacher. The worst thing that can happen to a teacher is to get caught off-guard and unable to find the words to answer a question.

When teachers fail to make the effort to answer their students’ questions, they start losing their intellectual credibility among the students.

Having inquisitive boys and girls in a class is a good reason for any teacher to be happy. A Socrates is a joy in the classroom. He helps teachers stay sharp and ensures that teachers keep their wits about them.

Whenever a student comes to you after class to say that he/she finally has answers to your question, you have started to make that student think—really think.

This much is true: It only takes one good question for a teacher to discover one genius after another, one at a time.