“…most classrooms are characterised by a dearth of students questions and a deluge of student of teacher questions. Over a whole school year the average-rate of student generated questions is one per student per month. One child, having learned too well by observing his teacher, thought that you had to know the answer before you could ask a question.”

~ quoted from “What’s the point of schools?” by Guy Claxton

One of the key skills required to be an effective learner is to learn how to ask questions. Claxton proposes that students become more effective learners when they “grow more ready, more willing, and more able to ask good questions.” To do so students should be taught how to ask questions and also be made aware of the kinds of questions that should be employed on a given subject of discussion.

According to Claxton, the first dimension, that is to “grow more ready” is concerned with getting students “to be alert to the whole range of occasions when asking certain kinds of questions might be a good idea.” So students who ask questions in one class but don’t in others, may be encouraged to see these opportunities to ask questions in these other classes.

The second dimension, “to grow more willing”, is to help students “to be independent of external support and encouragement” to ask questions. No more prodding is needed and more importantly perhaps, the teacher creates an environment that is safe for questions and the teacher also gives time for questions.

The third dimension is concerned with helping students questions to become richer, more flexible and more sophisticated. It is these questions that will stretch their minds and they should be given plenty of room to practise this.

Teachers can turn to Art da Costa’s levels of questioning (which is based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to teach their students to reach that third dimension of questioning. After familiarizing themselves with the levels of questioning, teachers can model it at work in the classroom (see here for an example).

Bear in mind that the modeling also includes the teachers being ready to say, “I don’t know” without shame. That is a reflection of a teacher who is learning. As Claxton wrote:

“…of course teachers know more about some of those things than young people do…Of course I want my surgeon to be knowledgeable and competent. But I am safer in the hands of a doctor who is still an enthusiastic and unashamed learner than I am with one who closed her mind to new things thirty years ago. And my children are better off in the hands of a teacher who is continually open to wonder and puzzlement than they are being hectored by someone who lacks the honesty and courage to acknowledge a mistake or doubt”

If you are thinking that I got the title wrong, then I have got your attention. Yes, I know that most of the time it is teachers who tell their students to be quiet. But really, there is a case for teachers to be quiet in the classroom.

Studies have shown that teachers often need to be quiet in class. Teachers in their eagerness to assist their students to answer questions, usually give students little time to think. It was found that teachers often follow up a question with another in rapid succession. All it takes is a 1.5 second pause before a second question is fired at the student. Of course, the second and third questions are usually rephrased in the hope that the student would understand better.

But what is the effect of this rapid succession of questions from the teacher on the students? Although as teachers we may think that we are trying to help the students, for the former it would be like a series of different questions. Imagine that if you are the student you are already grappling with the first question and before you have had time to think, another question is shot at you. Immediately, the mind will try to reorganize itself to tackle the second question. This grappling in the mind is made worse if another questions flies at you. The mind has to reorganize itself again. The grappling just goes on.

Teachers can help prevent this incessant reorganisation of the thinking that goes on in the heads of students by learning to just be quiet after asking the first question. Mary Budd Rowe (1972) called it “Wait Time”. She found that by just being quiet, a teacher will be rewarded with better  responses from her students. I have found this to be true from my own personal experience too. We simply need to give our students time to think! Nothing very sophisticated about that to add to your repertoire as a teacher. Just be quiet! It will go a long way towards creating a positive climate for learning.

I have just returned from a trip to Thailand to conduct a seminar for about 120 teachers from international schools in Bangkok. One of the things that was discussed at the seminar was what could be done to create a safe environment to encourage thinking. We discussed a whole lot of things we could do but I forgot to mention something that I work hard at doing whenever I conduct a seminar or workshop, that is, I make a point to always smile. Remember that old song that was written with music by none other than the great Charlie Chaplin himself?

Smile though your heart is aching; Smile even though it’s breaking…

(Lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons. Music written by Charlie Chaplin, 1936)

A smile is actually a very important aspect of a teacher’s teaching repertoire. If there is one thing that can make a teacher appear friendly and approachable, it is his smile. Students like all of us feel comfortable when the person in a position of authority is able to smile when they interact. The learning that takes place depends a lot on the student’s perception of his teacher. If it is positive, the student is more likely to want to be more attentive to the teacher. This helps the teacher to  teach. Making a conscious effort should be part of the the teacher’s standard operating procedure. The teacher must tell himself to smile before he enters the classroom and meet his charges. It does not matter what problems the teacher may face. It does not matter what is going on his mind but the moment he enters the class he must smile. The students should not be subjected to the teacher’s mood swings. A consistently kind and pleasant countenance helps the teacher build bridges not only to their students’ hearts but also to their minds.  As the song goes:

Light up your face with gladness, Hide every trace of sadness.

Although a tear may be ever so near,

That’s the time you must keep on trying…If you just smile…