I’ve taught many kids over the years and have seen it again and again – simply handing out answers to questions about nature does not create the relationship I desire between student and world. That is, children often get bored with this approach to “education”. There is not much in it for them. There is value in the didactic approach, but I use it sparingly. I prefer to use the Art of Questioning.

 

 The Art of Questioning is the ability to respond to a question with another question – one that is relevant and able to draw the student closer to the object. The line of questioning may go like this:

Child - “What tree is that?”

Mentor - “What shape are the leaves?”

“Um…big!”

“As big as a golf ball, basketball, beach ball…?”

“Like a basketball.”

“Hm, what color is the bark?”

“I think it’s like puzzle pieces and whitish.”

“Do you think any animals would live in it?”

“Maybe.”

“Let’s get a closer look.”

I could have made the questioning go on longer but I noticed that my student’s body language told me he was getting disinterested in continuing this way. I re-inspired him by offering to get a closer look at his tree. Once we got to the tree, we began to explore it in greater depth and detail. And the questioning continued.

 

 What I’m attempting to do here is to consciously connect a student to their senses and their senses to nature. Because the human brain is perfectly designed to learn from nature, and children come pre-programmed to learn, the Art of Questioning becomes a very effective tool when used appropriately. Jon Young, author, tracker and co-founder of the Wilderness Awareness School, said that his mentor Tom Brown, Jr. used to ask him 3 kinds of questions: questions he could definitely answer – “what bone is this with eye sockets and teeth?”, questions that would push his edges a little – “what animal has this skull with big eyes, a foreshortened face, and scissor-like teeth?”, and questions that were nearly beyond comprehension – “where do you think this animal went when it died?”

 

 It has been said that people only learn at their edges, i.e., within our edges are things we already know and beyond our edges are things we cannot comprehend (yet). Finding where our student’s edges are and what they are interested in gives us an edge in helping them develop greater knowledge and experience. And it enables us to acknowledge and honor each child or student where they are along their path.

 

 Written by David Wilson

Comments or Questions may be directed to Dave@CoyoteRoadSchool.com