The real issue is: can you understand the answer? School’s job, and teacher’s jobs, need to be to cause students to think hard about things they care about. (emphasis added)
From Roger Schank's blog
Without a question can we really understand or"hear" the answer? Today's information age where information is readily available and regularly presented can result in a dearth of questions which give meaning to that information and are vital to the assimilation of information and to real understanding.
A discussion on Columbus's calculations of the size of the earth might initially seem boring, but if we start off with a question, a question from the learner, then that discussion changes from math and topography to an intriguing discussion. For instance, do you know why it was so difficult for Colombo (Italian version of his name) to convince anyone to fund his voyage? Because they all thought the world was flat . . . right? Actually no.
Perhaps the above paragraph illustrates the power of a question in the mind of the learner before learning begins. Roger Schank, one of the most accomplished researchers in learning science, and others, have found that learner inquiry is the most effective guide for learning, not a curriculum designed to make people into scholars.
Thirty years ago Finland needed a solution to their failing economy. Can you guess what they did? . . . They changed their education system dramatically. Rather than adopt the aesthetic assiduousness of Asia, Finland reduced instructional hours for small children and increased play time. They removed tests until 17 years of age and made teaching a revered profession by requiring a Master's degree making requirements for that degree high, and paying teachers well. Finland is consistently in the top three in world wide education assessments, and they spend less than the US on education per pupil. Finland is toward the middle of the chart below.
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