Questions - the key to thinking, problem solving and communication

Kids who have the ability to ask questions, feel free and comfortable to do so in an environment that encourages questions and relationship are more likely to be self determined. Questions are the basis of any communication and learning and crucial to the expression of a kid's autonomy , his competence and relationships with his world.

 A Social- Moral learning 

  Scenario:  Young kids are playing in a kindergarten. Boy 1 grabs the truck from   boy 2. Asking a question would be more appropriate.

Boy 1 – can I play with your truck ?                                                                                  Boy 2  -  No !                                                                                                                                        Boy 1 – why don't you want to let me play with your truck ?                                                           Boy2 – Because – I am scared you will break it , won't give it back when I want it , I        have nothing else to play with etc                                                                                Boy1 – If I will ………..etc , will you let me play with your truck ?

Questions are the basis of all communication. They also drive our thinking, exploration and problem solving , and meeting our needs.

In our desperate attempt to help kids get the ' right behaviors, skills and answers'  we end up promoting static intelligence - ABA -and not the dynamic intelligence - RDI -that kids need to mediate their social-moral and intellectual world. Instead of focusing on compliance and answers we should be teaching kids how to think critically and creatively -  and focus on helping them to ask questions. Questions are the keys to thinking and communication. Any dialog, conversation, negotiation, problem solving etc revolves around questions. Questions and curiosity also drive their learning.

In the CPS – collaborative problem solving process, we focus on questions, concerns, problems, unmet needs and not the solutions. Once we ask the right questions we are open to brainstorm many alternative solutions. People tend to place the emphasis on answers, so they come to the table and present their concerns in terms of answers and solutions. An answer or solution is just one of many possible solutions to a problem or concerns. This results in the dueling of solutions or negotiation, instead of problem solving.

There is a saying – a good question is half the answer. Questions will help us focus on defining the concerns and problems.

Traditional approaches to both social-moral and academic learning focus on how to motivate kids to give teachers and parents the behavior and answers the parents/teachers want.

Sometimes when we are walking with kids and taking in the surroundings, we don't want conversation but to highlight things we have noticed and help kids to reflect. Here we can use ' rhetorical questions' -  did you notice … did you see  …   etc or we may make short comments and pause – which is a nonverbal invitation for the kid to think or reflect about the comment.

Game :  End your communication with a question

In order to encourage the use of questions in dialog and conversations we can play a game with kids.  Conversation and discussion revolves around statements and questions , make sure you close your communication with a question .

When we drill down for kids  concerns in the CPS process we model asking questions –

1 the wh questions – why, who . with whom, over what, what, when, how etc 

2 can you tell me more , can you explain etc  

3 can you explain what you were thinking, feeling etc during the problem .
If kids have difficulty  ask yes/no questions and then ask for  elaboration.  
                                                                                  
  4 when ( under what conditions )  do/don't you have this problem  
                                         
 5 can you break down the activity into its different parts – what is difficult for you

B Questions are the foundation of academic learning

'Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an answer generates a further question does thought continue its life as such.

This is why it is true that only students who have questions are really thinking and learning. It is possible to give students an examination on any subject by just asking them to list all of the questions that they have about a subject, including all questions generated by their first list of questions.

That we do not test students by asking them to list questions and explain their significance is again evidence of the privileged status we give to answers isolated from questions. That is, we ask questions only to get thought-stopping answers, not to generate further questions.'  -

from  critical thinking.org 

Happiness and Children's Learning - SDT and CPS

Here are 2 quotes from Joe Bower's blog , a Freak economist Steven Levitt on incentives for school kids and an example of truly constructivist learning from 8 year old's.



I would like to explore them using Self determination Theory principles.



Few parents have the courage and independence to care more for their children's happiness than for their 'success' - Eric Fromm



I would prefer my students to be little “dumber” but a whole lot happier - William Chamberlain


http://www.joebower.org/2010/12/shame-on-you-steven-levitt.html






Eight-year-old children publish bee study in Royal Society journal.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/21/eight-year-old-children-publish-bee-study-in-royal-society-journal/

With all the pressure on parents and kids to be successful and accepted in school and on the sports ground , little thought is given whether a child is happy or not. The first thing that parents ask teachers is – how are his test scores , is he behaving himself ? In nearly all meetings they fail to ask - is my child happy in school , does he enjoy learning ?

I make it a habit of mine to ask children in the community what they like about school - the answers I get - recess , friends etc , not learning . Pretty tragic !



The mistake parents make is that success and happiness are dichotomies. In fact I hold - If you are not happy , you will be a whole lot '' dumber''.



According to SDT , people and this includes children are intrinsically happier when they are self determined , can direct their lives and feel that their actions are autonomous. People are happy when they become connected to their inner beings , and this is when true learning takes place . This is the place , a place where kids are happy and want to learn that they can connect to their deeper selves , construct knowledge and make meaning of the world around them and offer insights which are unique to them. When kids are alienated from learning , they are not themselves , not connected to their inner beings.



Steven Levitt takes the other path , the shorter one paved with fool's gold. Paying kids for A's is given them a double reward. Alfie Kohn says the grade , the A is a reward for how well you have done , and the award is rewarding the kid a second time by giving him a reward that is scarce. The kids in the video clip seem very happy . Unfortunately the happiness is not even for the A grades , but for the $$$s and Limo ride.



Now Steven Levitt makes the point that if we want to improve tests scores we should invest in students by giving them incentives rather than in our reforms or teaching. This is freak economics , but not sound economics. Yong Zhao says that Chinese education is producing people with high test scores but low ability. The greatest economic resource a country has is its people. If we invest in people , help them become more self determined, competent, autonomous and interrelated will not only have more successful people , but also people who love learning and love people.



Happiness and success are dependent on one another. Constructivist learning provides an opportunity for the construction and integration of knowledge that becomes part of the child. When kids study for good grades , they forget all they learned as soon as they leave the examination hall. And what reinforces this the grades and award ceremonies.



The 8 year old bee study is evidence of true education which brings with it success and happiness.



There is also social and moral learning. Kids learn when they have opportunities to reflect on pro-social behavior and solve problems using CPS- collaborative problem solving , in a collaborative way finding mutually satisfying solutions. When teachers and parents use consequences to deal with problems , ' doing to ' children certainly does not bring with it happiness. When rewards are used to get children to comply with adult demands , kids are in fact being punished by being given a substitute for real intrinsic rewards and having problem solved taking their concerns into account. CPS promotes real happiness in our children , because it is the way where their problems are being solved and their concerns are being addressed.


Allan