Today I took 5 minutes to ask as many questions about my professional career as I could think of. Just brainstorm questions, no answers or judgments. The task was to spill your thoughts in question form and think about them later. The timer went off and I finished my last question. I stopped the activity and began the next step of documenting the process. One question stood out to me. It gets to the root of why I work so hard. Can you guess which?
The Troublesome Questioner - Can Questions Get Us Into Trouble?
To understand which question stood out, I need to give some background knowledge and make a confession. I graduated Highschool with a 2.9 GPA and a reputation for trouble. I was a horrible student and never wanted to be an educator, but like most things in my life it just sort of happened this way and I wouldn't change a thing.
My nickname growing up was George, short for Curious George. My mom loves telling how difficult it was for her because I could be so defiant and sweet at the same time. To be honest I had a love/hate relationship with most adults and authority figures growing up. I am big enough to admit that I had a problem with authority, but after reading Warner (2014) I was left with a question. Did I lack respect or was I just curious?
Can and Should Questioning be Taught? Could "Gentlemen Farmers" Be The Solution?
Reading "A More Beautiful Question" by Warren Berger (2014) has been threptic for me. You see throughout all of my troublesome years, one person always had my back. Grandpa Rifle was an unsung hero. He was what Berger (2014) called a "master questioner" and could have been one of the stories featured. He also understood what made me tick, or more accurately what threw off my rhythm. He could fix anything, explain anything, figure out anything, and everyone knew it. At a very young age Grandpa began teaching me how to answer and refine my own questions to fix things. He prepared me to be a “Gentleman Farmer” as Great Grandpa Thurman called it (We even made it his job title in his obituary). A Gentleman Farmer is someone prepared to fix anything anywhere with very little. Where I grew up this was an essential skill.
I should tell you, Grandpa Riffle's formal education did not progress past 8th grade. Could it be that Grandpa’s childlike curiosity and ability to adapt was in fact a result of him exiting the formal education system at such an early age? Did my experiences with him make me expect more out of my education?
What Leads a Troublesome Questioner Into Education?
Berger (2014) connects studies showing that there is a drop off in the number of students using questioning skills happening at a similar age and rate of decline as the drop-off in student engagement throughout K-12 education. I can connect with this having struggled with school myself. Correlation does not equal causation, but why wouldn't we dig deeper?
As I said earlier, I had no ambition to work in education when I entered college, but here I am. You see, in college I did very well and worked as a tutor. It was fun and easy money. I showed up, asked questions, and engaged learning through discussion. It went well and I ended up with a job at the GRCC Laboratory Preschool. The school was project based and had a well earned reputation for success. I loved teaching but couldn't survive on the income. I got a position teaching third grade where I offended my admin teams by constantly questioning processes and rationale. It felt like grade school all over again until I found other passionate thinkers and started utilizing and supporting STEM learning with project based approaches. A few years ago, I landed a job supporting technology integration at a regional level.
That is the how, but Why am I here? To upgrade an antiquated education system and prepare 21st century citizens for an unknown future. I’m in education to stir the pot and drive change.
Now that you know the how and the why, back to my first question, Which of my quickfire questions do you think intrigues me most?
References:
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
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