Questions?

Questions are essential to learning and understanding.  The ability to ask a question that elicits the information you want or need is a learned skill, not an innate ability.  When I hear people ask questions, sometimes my mind wonders if they know what information they are seeking.  I put that thinking process in the realm of people you look at and think, “did you look in the mirror before leaving home?”

A case in point heard during a conversation between an agitated teacher and an unruly student.  Apparently, the student was seeking attention from his classmates (disrupting class) while the “sage on the stage” was pontificating.  The student cast furtive glances my way throughout the tongue lashing.  The teacher finally asked him to explain himself, and he very respectfully began to do so.  After a few minutes of his explanation the classroom dragon had suffered long enough and asked him a question loaded with possibilities, “how stupid do I look?”  The student locked eyes with me hoping for some unspoken guidance, but I merely nodded my head “no” and tried to keep a stern expression (I wanted to laugh out loud and advise him to answer the question respectfully but honestly.).  When he didn’t proffer an answer, she told him to get back in the classroom she would deal with him later.   Once the student left, I burst out laughing.  Unfortunately, the teacher was still in the hallway.  She glared at me and asked, ‘what are you laughing at?”   I said the only thing that came to mind, “how stupid do I look?” and returned to my classroom.  

Sometimes we ask questions out of nervousness or a lack of anything to say that makes any sense.  Students exiting the bus in the morning ask a teacher, “are we having class today?”  Nope, we all got up early and dressed just to come watch you get off of the bus.   I put that right up there with the student entering my classroom and asking, “are we doing anything important today?”   I like the fact that both of those questions use the plural pronoun ‘we.’   Every day that I teach is important because there is the opportunity to invest in the future of my students.  I want to ask them if they have a mouse in their pocket such that they ask using ‘we’.

In middle school, I had a few students who always liked to play trick or practical jokes.   I tried to be good-natured and go along because often they are just seeking attention.   They would try these tricks on teachers and also on other students.  Very often when they attempted the trick, they would be asked, “do I look stupid?”   Makes you want to ask, “do you really want an answer to that question?”   Other times students or teachers would confront the practical joker with the question, “what kind of fool do you think I am?”  Is this multiple choice?  Can you go through the options so I can be sure of the different types of fools from which I can choose?  Do you have a preference?

As a teacher of English to Speakers of Other languages, I work often with students on their questioning technique.  We practice questioning by me answering the exact question they ask.  They have learned that “can I go to the bathroom?” is asking if they have the ability.  “May I go to the bathroom” is asking permission.  Very often they come into my room for class and ask, “are we going to do anything today?”  There is a question loaded with possibilities.

A more famous type of question, not limited to academia, is the rhetorical question.  A rhetorical question is asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than seeking information.  This is most notably true in 1 Samuel 15.  Saul had been commanded by God, through Samuel, to attack Amalek and leave no living animal or person.  God’s judgment is swift and thorough.  Saul decided he knew better than God what should be done, and he erected a monument to himself and saved the “choicest” animals as a sacrifice to God. God knows what has occurred and dispatches Samuel to confront Saul.  Samuel arrives at Saul bragging about his victory and his obedience to God’s commands.  Please read this on your own sometime in 1 Samuel 15.  Samuel answered this bravado with a rhetorical question heavy with dramatic affected, “what is this bleating of sheep that I hear?”  Saul was quick with explanations and reasons, but from this, we learn that God desires obedience more than sacrifice.

I teach my students that learning often begins with asking a question.  Admitting that you don’t know something opens you up to the opportunity to learn.  But you have to ask the right question and in the correct manner.  Also when someone asks a question, you have to listen in order to provide a proper answer.  It has been years since I ate at Burger King.  However, I once stood at the counter at my local Burger King and ordered food.  The teen behind the register who never made eye contact while I ordered asked drearily, “is that for here or to go?”  I answered “yes.”   She moved on to the next customer without skipping a beat.  She didn’t listen.

Now you are on point to ask and answer questions.  Sometimes the answer to a question is another question so you can determine what information the person is seeking.   Be patient, think, and give a good answer.  Often answering the exact question someone asks is the best choice, or at least the most fun.