Knowing the answers may help kids in school, but knowing how to question will help them in life. Here are 5 ways to make us ALL better questioners. From the author of A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION.

1. 5 Ways
to
Make Better Questioners

2. Questioning helps us
learn, explore the unknown,
and adapt to change.

3. That makes it a most
precious “app” today,
in a world where

4. everything is changing
and
so much is unknown.

5. And yet, we don’t seem
to value questioning.
In our workplaces
and in our classrooms

6. it is the answers
we reward—and questions
are barely tolerated.

7. To change that is easier
said than done.
But here are some

8. suggestions on how to
encourage more questioning
in the classroom and

9. in life beyond
the classroom,
where we’re really
going to need it.

12. Questioning can be scary,
an admission to the world
that you don’t know
the answer.

13. Create an environment
where questioning becomes
a strength, where it is
welcome and desired.

14. One activity to kick it off:
Have groups
“questionstorm” an issue—
no answers allowed!

17. Questioners are the ones
breaking new ground in
music, movies, and the arts.

18. They’re the explorers, the
mavericks, the rebels.

19. They’re the explorers, the
mavericks, the rebels.
How cool is that?

20. Share their stories.
Show where questioning
took them.

23. Let kids tap into their
imaginations and innate
question-asking
skills.

24. Make inquiry an engaging
part of any challenge.

25. “Can you turn that
statement into a
question?”

26. “Can you open your closed
questions and close your
open ones?”

27. “Can you use ‘the 5 whys’
to get to the root of a
problem (like why do kids
stop asking questions)?”

30. Make grappling with a
question & sharing it with
others a rewarding process.

31. Praise and celebrate
the questions that are
asked—even the
off-beat, crazy ones.

34. Turn questioning into
a habit.

35. Observe the familiar
in fresh ways.
Be willing to be
considered “naïve.”
Question assumptions.

36. Make a great question
an ongoing project,
a report, or an original
creation of some kind.

37. Discuss how questioning
is used and what
was learned.

38. If you’re a teacher,
ask yourself

39. How might I
encourage more questioning
in the classroom?

40. How might I
instill the habit of inquiry
in my students?

41. Knowing the answers may
help them in school
Because…

42. but knowing how to question

43. but knowing how to question
will help them in life.

44. Read more on the power
of questioning in our lives.
AMoreBeautifulQuestion.com

45. Read more on the power
of questioning in our lives.
AMoreBeautifulQuestion.com
RightQuestion.org

46. Read more on the power
of questioning in our lives.
AMoreBeautifulQuestion.com
RightQuestion.org
Edutopia bit.ly/BetterQuestioners