Aug 19 2008
“Questions are the Answers”
Michael McQueen spoke recently at our college. He seemed to get people talking and asking questions about our future as learners, a pity some missed out, but heres the crib sheet for those who missed his talk.
Amongst other things to do with understanding and engaging genY Michael shares a few pointers on becoming a master asker;
Questions are indeed the answer. Regardless of whether you are an employer, a parent or a teacher, questions are the key to unlocking your young people’s creativity, imagination, and capacity to reason. If you can get good at asking questions, you are more than halfway there.
Michael also asks us to reconsider the traditional teacher role as ‘font of all knowledge’ to becoming a class facilitator.
Facilitating learning requires a different mentality and range of skills to that of being a fountain of knowledge. It means shifting from a focus on knowing the right answers to asking the right questions. By far, the most significant skill in becoming a good facilitator of learning is the ability to ask questions that are strategic and powerful.
As a history teacher with a keen interest in genealogy and family legacies, I look forward to Mr McQueen’s September 08 book, Memento-Gift of a Lifetime, in which he will no doubt expand upon his theme of the quest for wisdom in the digital age.
I also wonder how many DET NSW school leaders will tick Michael’s box at the upcoming conference?
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He is a young and engaging speaker but I thought his points about Gen Y could also have been made on the stereotype of ‘Australians’ - from a British viewpoint - too. Look at the list and think like; I saw him a year ago and haven’t his list handy but maybe you can see what I mean. For example, Gen Y do not respect the position but the person (sounds like an Australian attitude from waaaay back. Thoughts?