“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question; I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”  —A. Einstein

Ask yourself these two questions:

1. Does question-asking apply to the teaching and learning of positive character strengths and ethical decision-making?
2. What resources could help you and your students appreciate the importance of developing question-asking skills?

The answer to the first question is “yes” and here is one reason.

The word CHARACTER has two Cs in it; one stands for CHOICE and the other for CONSEQUENCES. Living a life of good character doesn’t happen by CHANCE, nor does it happen by CIRCUMSTANCES.  It happens by CHOICES.  There is another very important “C” that should be considered – CONSCIENCE.

If character is necessary to inform our “choices” and “consequences,” (conscience) then children and youth need to learn and practice the skills of question asking.

In his paper “The Art and Architecture of Powerful Questions,” Eric Vogt reminds us that:

• Questions are a prerequisite to learning.
• Questions are a window into creativity and insight. 
• Questions motivate fresh thinking.
• Questions challenge outdated assumptions.
• Questions lead us to the future.

http://www.javeriana.edu.co/decisiones/PowerfulQuestions.PDF

“Asking the right questions takes as much skill as giving the right answers.”  – Robert Half

Here are four teaching suggestions that help answer the second question.

1. Give Me Five: 5-W’s & the H
   • This strategy is applicable for deconstructing subject matter content, current events, and relationships.  A relationship example:
     • There is a fight on the playground.  Five students are involved and are sent to the office (which means the principal or her delegate has to deal with the problem.)  They are given a GMF sheet with a diagram of an open hand, each finger has question on it, and so does the palm.  The five students are separated, given the sheet, and told to write about the incident:
       • Who was involved? (thumb question)
       • Where? (finger question)
       • When? (finger question)
       • What happened? (finger question)
       • Why? (finger question)
       • How? (Resolution) (palm question)

The students have 10-15 minutes to complete the GMF sheet.  They return to the office for a “debriefing” to discuss the first five questions.  Then the How question:  “How are the five of you going to solve this problem?”  “What’s the solution and the consequences?”

2. KAACCE – Bloom’s Taxonomy : Have your students memorize this acronym KAACSE (pronounce is as Kay-Sea) and what each letter means:
   • Knowledge – questions that have students list, define, tell, label, show, name, relate, recall
   • Comprehension – questions that compare, contrast, explain, rephrase, classify, interpret, outline, infer
   • Application – questions that solve, select, plan, choose, construct, experiment, organize, build
   • Analysis – questions that separate, compare, contrast, dissect, examine, infer, simplify, test for
   • Synthesis – questions create, construct, combine, design, adapt, modify, predict, and improve
   • Evaluation –questions that judge, criticize, conclude, assess, appraise, estimate, deduct, prove/disprove

3. Teach your students Arthur Costa’s Levels of Questioning.  http://mrkash.com/costa.html

Level One
Defining	Describing
Identifying	Listing
Naming	Observing
Reciting	Scanning

Level Two
Analyzing	Comparing
Contrasting	Grouping
Inferring	Sequencing
Synthesizing

Level Three
Applying a principle	Evaluating
Hypothesizing	Imagining
Judging	Predicting
Speculating

 

4. The staff at the “Right Question Institute” recommends that teachers use a 6-step process called the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), summarized as follows:
   1. Teachers design a question focus
   2. Students produce questions
   3. Students improve their questions
   4. Students prioritize their questions
   5. Students and teachers decide on next steps
   6. Students reflect on what they have learned

“Teaching this skill in every classroom can help successful students to go deeper in their thinking and encourage struggling students to develop a new thirst for learning.”  http://rightquestion.org/education/

You will discover that question–asking is teachable, easily modeled, relevant to the Common Core Standards, applicable to 21^st Century skills, and a life-long skill effective in gathering and processing information, solving problems, and making decisions (hopefully ethical ones) both professionally and personally.

To conclude – a few questions for you:

• Why did you read this blog?
• What did you learn?
• How does this help you with the Cs in question one?
• How can you use the information in your classroom with your students?

“In school, we’re rewarded for having the answer, not for asking a good question.”  — Richard Saul Wurman