Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2010
Posts: 0
Location: Botswana
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My name is Benson Phesodi, am doing post graduate Diploma in Technical and Vocational Education so i would like if you can give tips on how best one can improve on questioning skills during facilitation of learning.
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 0
Location: Hudson/WI
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Benson
I taught woodworking in Swaziland through Peace Corps, and worked hard at improving the students' skills at raising questions and thinking for themselves, but it wasn't easy. I found that most teachers simply lectured to the students, and didn't interact with them much. Since students were tested after Forms 3 and 5, most teachers "taught the test," hoping their students would know enough to matriculate.
I started by simply asking students a lot of questions as I taught. "Why do you think that is?" "What might happen if you did that?" "Why do you think it works that way?" The first step was to keep them engaged and thinking, rather than have them sitting there waiting for my "pearls of wisdom." My goal was to be able to lead students to finding answers, instead of simply giving them answers. It worked with the the older students, over time, but the first year high schoolers struggled with it. I was there almost three years, and would say I had the Form 5 kids thinking for themselves more before I was done. But it was a long road.
Ask a lot of questions, be persistent in letting the students pursue their notions, and keep them thinking.
George
George Vondriska
Wild Earth School
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