Ask more questions and put yourself out of work

Organic farm serviced by students from local elementary and high schools.

Over the summer 2018 I learned about the power of questions in the most novel of places, Kenya.  I participated in an educational trip organized by Me to We, a path-breaking service organization based in Toronto, Ontario run by two social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger.  Both have fascinating stories about how they seized on an idea for improving the world and wouldn’t stop until it became a reality. Their appreciation for questions is what I’ll remember most.

Sschat Debrief: Educators Speak Out On Big Questions- Part II

This post extends last week’s debrief of ideas from the sschat “Teaching Teachers and Students to Ask Big Questions,” held on April 2, 2018.  Short commentary follows each comment with links to past blog posts relevant to the idea shared.

Thanks again to all who participated!  The next chat is  Creating Podcasts with Your Students #sschat  April 9, 2018 at 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm  Hosted by @listenwiselearn

“Students- Give me your honest feedback. How are we doing?”

Asking questions is sometimes a painful act of courage, especially when you are asking the group of people whose opinions you value most: your students.

Chris Hallberg, business consultant and turnaround specialist, wrote this provocative blog post for Leadership Now about the questions business leaders should ask their employees about the health of their organizations.  These are not flaky questions one might find on a post-workshop survey. Many are unsettling Big Questions which test the emotional fragility of leaders who often fear constructive criticism and self-reflection.

As I read it, my mind gravitated towards comparisons to classroom teaching and so I decided to tweak the questions just a bit into ones that we could ask our students at the end of a semester or year.

Here we go!

Wow and ouch!

As scary as these questions are, the responses to them would give us a wealth of information about the classroom experience, information that we could act upon to improve learning for all.

So if you are looking for something to do in class right after holiday break, look no further!

What is your favorite question on this list?

Which question on the list would you be most interested in getting answers to?

Which question makes you most nervous?

Reply to this blog or tweet a response to @dmfouts

More on Chris Hallberg:  Chris is ranked #9 on Inc.’s “Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts,” is a seasoned business consultant, turnaround expert, United States Army veteran, and author of The Business Sergeant’s Field Manual. You will find his blog at Business Sergeant.