Good Questions

I guess its very obvious (but it took Stanley Fish to "remind me") that the answers you get depend on the questions you ask. When you begin to think about it, the significance of our assumptions, questions and agenda are very far reaching. They shape meaning and direction for us.

So generating good questions must be a very important activity.

Which is good, cos asking questions is easier than giving answers, perhaps.

But what are the good questions? And the questions behind the questions? The unanswered or unasked questions? The questionable questions?

Good questions, eh?

* * *

When I “taught” RE I started all my year 7 and year 9 lessons with some “Fundamental Questions”:

(1) Identity? Who am I?

(2) Purpose? Why am I here?

(3) Destiny: Where am I going?

They still seem some good questions to me.

* * *

I always taught the same thing to Years 7 & 9. It made life much easier. And it worked fine. Though there was a sticky moment as one boy in year 9 had a cousin in year 7 and for some reason they had been comparing their RE exercise books.

Obviously on this approach one can only teach the same year groups for two years, but it gives you a bit of thinking time.

I believe this is known in the trade (sorry, profession) as the Spiral Curriculum Principle.

We seemed to use when I was being taught history in school: it was always the Nazis.