Week 10: Reading and Reflection

Read and Reflect Chapter 3: Teaching as if life matters

Chapter 3 advocates for question-based learning. The author suggests inverting the power structure in the classroom, and teaching students strategies that help them guide their own learning. The way to engage students and create valid school experiences is to let their natural curiosity guide their intellectual development.

In the first part of the chapter, Christopher Uhl talks about overcoming the negative connotations of questioning. I have distinct memories of being reprimanded for questioning at school, home, and about church. I wonder about the triangle of childhood existence and question where the questioning an curiosity is allowed to flourish. A typical child's life revolves around church, home, and school. Are children encouraged to ask questions about their parents' faith and explore spirituality on their own terms? Do standardized tests gauge critical thinking ? How many parents can entertain their children's questioning by validating instead of going bonkers? In each of the institutions that children are engaged in, the power structure is top heavy. I guess I was fortunate that I had an "interior space" I could retreat to and let my mind wonder free as a child. In high school I had an English teacher that fostered a questioning spirit in her class. I felt like I had learned a secret skill in that I could observe and analyze things for how they really appeared to me.

A good portion of the remainder of chapter is spent outlining questioning strategies that can be used in the classroom. After explaining the crafting of questions, Christopher Uhl explains question based strategied. They are as follows:

1. How many of you______? ice breaker in which each student creates a question for the class. Other students respond with yes/no answers, and the teacher models asking follow up questions.
2. Fifty Questions. With this strategy, students generate questions based on sustained observation of some subject matter. Students then analyze and look for trends in the content of their questions. The teacher helps students revise questions so they are not ambiguous. Students then design research projects based on the questions.
3. Annoying Child.  Use the question of "Why" to systematically delve into deeper reflection and thinking.
4. PMI. Students brainstorm the Plus and Minus aspects of a topic. They also list aspects of a topic that aren't positive or negative, just Interesting.
5. Lectio Divina. This strategy for contemplatively reading the Bible can be modified into a questioning technique for secular texts read in a group setting. The original steps are paraphrased to glean the message of any author.                               
6.  Strategic Questioning. This strategy is used to help develop self-understanding and to bring about social change. First,  Background Questions are asked in the order of guiding focus, analysis, and feeling. Next, Strategic Questions are asked about visioning and action plans.