– Vagish K Jha
I want to make a confession. I am a lazy teacher. I don’t want to do too much thinking for my class. I, instead, want my students to do most of it. I consider myself a catalyst, at the most. This is because I believe that teaching is NOT what a teacher does, it is more of what students do in the classroom. Traditionally a teacher has the prerogative of asking questions and students have the onus of answering. Mostly, these questions are from the syllabus and students have to give proof of their awareness of the facts, figures, definitions, or processes given in the textbook. Even when the questions are about concepts, the answers must conform to the standard exposition given in the textbook. This, I sincerely believe, is very boring. Most students also find it so. Breaking the rule; going beyond the given is always exciting. So, I invert the rule. I ask my students to ask questions, all kinds of questions, interesting questions that comes to their mind. I want my students to dare me – why should I believe you, Sir? This, obviously, puts me in trouble often, but this is a good problem to have.
So, the other day I was dealing with a chapter on Magnetism. I had got different types of magnets in the class to do a few simple demonstrations about their properties. While this exercise put me in some seriously awkward situations and I would like to write them in detail sometime later, I just want to share a small slice of this class discussion and questions that put me in a deep quandary.
What will happen if I suspend a magnet with a thread? I asked. There was a wry smile on their faces as they answered, that the magnet will take a north-south direction. They answered mechanically.
“Are you sure? Please observe carefully what you see here in front of you. Please don’t tell me what you know from the textbook. Is this magnet really pointing to north-south? Observe carefully.” I exhorted the class to rely on their senses and mind and make a careful observation.
They looked at me for confirmation. “Right now, I will request you to forget books and focus on observing and thinking through. The key is not the answer but your ability to ask some interesting questions. Don’t expect me to give the answer, you need to figure it out and settle these queries on your own. Observation will give you the data. Our five senses and the mind are the original compasses to guide us. Use them to formulate your questions and ideas”, I dared them further.
Suddenly there was a murmur that turned into a full discussion among them. No, no it is not pointing exactly to the north-south direction. By the way, where exactly is the North direction? Hey, I know, there is a difference between the True North and Magnetic North, said Vidushi. What is this True North and Magnetic North[1]? Others wanted to know. She said, “I have just read it but don’t know exactly?”
After a short silence, and I know a teacher must give time to students to think about it. One child raised her hand. “Hey, does the compass point to the magnetic north or the true north? It should be the magnetic north because earth is a magnet itself”, said Rafi. “If the earth is a magnet, and all magnets take a north-south direction and same poles repel, then the earth’s magnet must have its north pole on the south and south pole on the north!!” Manjari made her point. “What, what what? Come again. It sounded like a convoluted statement”, asked Jhunki. Most of the eyes in the class lit at the exciting proposition. “Because we see a magnet always points to north-south direction. This is because the Earth is also a magnet. But similar poles repel. In that case, this is possible only if the earth’s North Pole is in the south direction and vice versa.” Manjari stated her argument again. This sounded logical. It was not there in the textbook. It was so counterintuitive.
“No, no, there is something wrong. The earth is spherical in shape. How do you know what is North and South in a sphere? Do spherical magnets also have poles? Rafi was perplexed. “Hey, the earth may be spherical, but it acts like a bar magnet with a clear North and South pole, even if its North pole is in South and South pole is in the North?” said Bablu. There was a palpable tension, a very creative one, in the class by now.
“Just go on raising questions and counter questions that come to your mind. We will try to find answers later, together. Also, make sure each one remembers your question lest you forget them.” I encouraged them further to think of more questions.
Another hand went up. “What will happen if we break a bar magnet from the middle? Will the North and South poles of the magnet come off separate?” asked Manish. “How can that be?” Another child wondered. “It will become two magnets both having north and south poles.” proposed Bablu. ‘Is it so?’ Others had doubts writ large on their faces. “Interesting. If that is so, what would happen if we kept breaking a magnet into smaller pieces? Will the smallest of the piece still be a magnet with North and South poles?” Wondered Pinki. “Hey, the smallest part of a magnet will be an atom. Right. Do atoms have poles?” asked Manjari. The argument was becoming more and more interesting.
‘In fact, after breaking a magnet into two we have two magnets with north and south poles. But if we join these pieces together, they become one magnet with two poles at two ends.’ Bablu said further. Shree had something else in her mind. “But if you break a magnet length-wise? Will these two parts of magnet sliced lengthwise, fit back together?” asked Shree. “They will not, because the like poles repel”, pat came reply from usually reclusive Sheeba. “Oh, if that is so, why a magnet doesn’t just fly apart from all those like-poles next to each other?” Shree had a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“And, what if the magnet is circular in shape and I break it into two pieces then where will the newly developed North and South poles be?” Asked Mustafa. “So, you will need to tell us if the circular magnet is flat like a fridge magnet, or if it is like a donut? Also, we need to be clear about how we are breaking it – from the middle, making a circular magnet as two Cs or half circles? Or you are slicing it horizontally like an Oreo biscuit?”, Naveen wanted more clarity on the question. The entire class was bubbling with positive energy and cerebral enthusiasm.
“Hey guys, this is just fab”, I said in their lingo. Will you own up your questions as your assets, please!” I could sense a thrill pass down my spine with each of these amazing questions. I didn’t know the answer to most of these. To be honest, I had never thought about many of these amazingly refreshing questions ever. Each one of them are precious ones. Really. I was reminded of what John Dewey once said, “Unless transition to an intellectual plane is effected, curiosity degenerates or evaporates. Bacon’s saying that we must become as little children in order to enter the kingdom of science is at once a reminder of the open-minded and flexible wonder of childhood and of the ease with which this endowment is lost.”[2]
“Don’t expect me to give answers to your questions, as, honestly, I don’t know many of these”, I said with a plain face. “We will try to inquire about them together.” I assured. But we need to go step by step. To do that systematically, let’s first formulate our questions properly in writing. When we write, we are more precise and sharper. “A good question must be unambiguous and crisp”. I added.
“Secondly, once we have stated our questions with clarity, we will NOT go looking for the answer on the internet or in books, please”, I made it categorical to the class. “We will first think about them in our minds. Obviously, what we already know will help us in thinking about it further. But the focus to formulate a possible explanation for our chosen question should be based on observation and logical thinking. What could, according to your thinking, be the probable scenarios or reasons? We will all make some intelligent guesses. Let’s think of as many guesses as we can for our own questions. These guesses are our hypotheses. We all will write our hypotheses in our notebooks so that we can examine and investigate them one by one”. The class listened to me as never before.
The entire class was electrified with amazing energy and enthusiasm as they grappled with all kinds of possibilities. There were a number of hypotheses that tumbled out of the young minds. “We will consider all the hypotheses one by one, and you try to defend them. But we will not stick to them emotionally. Let’s keep an open mind to change our argument in the face of better evidence and argument”, I suggested. “Let’s work on your individual hypothesis a bit more carefully and we will discuss them in the next class”, I said winding up the class. I knew the cat is out of the bag and my task of teaching was done as students started thinking about these questions themselves.
“But what is the point of talking of all such questions that have nothing to do with the syllabus? Aren’t we wasting our time?” Asked a colleague with serious concern. No. In fact, seeking such deep and interesting questions makes the textbook tasks like a cakewalk, making a deeper understanding of concepts emerge, in an invested manner. The moment you own a question, you will be motivated to seek answers on your own. If we want to create self-directed, self-motivated learners among students, what else do you need to do than to empower them to ask questions; interesting, wacky, and even outlandish? This is the way all scientific inquiry begins always. What is the point in regurgitating the given facts without having a proper understanding of them? Moreover, no new knowledge has ever been created, you will agree, if you don’t ask new questions. This is what the authors of a celebrated book by Dan Rothstein & Luz Santana called ‘Make just one change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions’[3], say – “learning how to ask questions also leads to improved learning outcomes, greater student engagement, and more ownership of the learning process.” Apart from inspiring students to learn to think for themselves, this process prepares students to be active participants in a democratic society. And teachers’ workload is also ultimately lightened.
This is also the core idea behind critical thinking; the ability to effectively break down an issue in its components, understand the interrelationships between them, and analyze it to find a solution or make a decision. In other words, at the heart of critical thinking lies the ability to formulate deep, different, and effective questions. We move into a scientist mode when we’re searching for truth, we do experiments to test hypotheses and discover knowledge.
Once the questions are formulated then comes the role of the hypothesis. A hypothesis can be understood[4] as a set of initial ideas, a kind of tentative theory or explanation often based on limited data. This is typically the beginning of a thread of further investigation to prove, disprove or improve the hypothesis through facts derived from empirical data, and logical and consistent arguments. The relationship between facts and hypothesis is so beautifully stated by Edward Teller, a Nuclear Physicist – “A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty until found effective.”
So, thinking of a hypothesis is the next step, so to say, in the scientific inquiry after observation. But the next important step is to hold one’s hypothesis lightly. Getting too attached to your initial ideas, call it a hypothesis, you will tend to hold on to it even if the data or evidence leads you to the contrary. Often, we tend to ignore the data that goes against our cherished ideas. We seek to prove rather than disprove our thoughts. One of the core tenets of scientific inquiry requires that rather than seeking to prove your ideas, look for counter-evidence and ask critical questions and be prepared to think again, reconsider your initial conclusions in the light of new evidence. This is a mark of true learning culture where rethinking cycles are routine. “In learning cultures”, says Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, “the norm is for people to know what they don’t know, doubt their existing practices, and stay curious about new routines to try out.”[5]
Wouldn’t you like your class to have such a vibrant learning culture? If yes, let us teach students to ask questions – all kinds of them and see the magic unfold in the classroom.
References:
[1] Those who may be interested to know a little more about this amazing phenomenon will find this article very interesting. What happens when magnetic north and true north align. https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-happens-when-magnetic-north-and-true-north-align-123265
[2] John Dewey, How We Think, D.C. Heath and Company Lexington, Massachusetts, 1933, p. 39
[3] 2011, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
[4] Edward Teller, Wendy Teller, and Wilson Talley, Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics, 1991, Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books, New York, Ch. 5, p.
[5] Adam Grant, Think Again, WH Allen, 2022, P.208
VagishK 