Controversy: A discussion marked by the expression of opposing views.
Do you secretly dread teaching about “controversial issues,” discussing them with peers, or even answering your children’s questions about them? We can, even though we understand there is no real learning or relationship without “the expression of opposing views.” Perhaps our hesitancy is because synonyms for controversy are dispute, quarrel, strife, and civil action!
Today when our social media feeds target our current expressed interests and screen out opposing ones, it is more important than ever that students learn how to question what they think and why they think it. This episode will share three questions you can use to nurture the kind of flexible, “elastic” thinking our learners need to think critically “outside the screen.”
This is Episode 2 in the blog series, Question It! Episode 1, Wait, Ask this Instead, takes a deep dive into the power of the What If? question. I also introduced this way to supercharge the cognitive and psychosocial impact of the engaging open-ended question: We embed it in a content-based Talent Goal directed at applying an aptitude of innovators. Let's continue to explore the Talent Goal's powerful "trifecta" of targeting higher level thinking, deep content understanding, and creative problem solving (innovation) competencies.
I am adapting these questions from a LinkedIn post by Daniel Pink. (His books A Whole New Mind and Drive have had a great influence on my work). Use these questions to discuss controversial questions in the content area you teach. Each question is embedded in a Talent Goal targeting an aptitude of innovators.
Questions to Ask in a Discussions of Controversial Topics
1. What is another another explanation? This sparks curiosity and exploration of alternatives you haven’t considered.
Talent Goal: Use your curiosity to explore additional explanations you haven’t considered. (Also try creativity or persistence as goals here.)
2. What evidence would change your mind? This is a test of whether you are really thinking about the topic or just defending your currently held opinion.
Talent Goal: Use your metacognition to ask, what evidence could change my mind about…. (logical reasoning, insight, empathy could be goals as well.)
3. What am I missing here? Instead of looking for confirmation of your stance, look for blind spots.
Talent Goal: Use your insight to reveal, what am I not seeing here? (What other aptitude could you use here?)
Be sure that you define the aptitude before you use it in a talent goal. My Talent Aptitude Posters are useful for this, or use the Student-Directed Goals on p. 57 of my book, Teach to Develop Talent.
Do you see how explicitly targeting an aptitude of innovators as a goal in your lesson engages students with a personal purpose for learning? Talent goals develop student efficacy (confidence) and agency (independence).
Open-ended questions like Pink’s Three embedded in talent goals that target the aptitudes of innovators develop learners’ flexible, “elastic” thinking that empowers them (and us) to thrive in our current AI-driven world. Try using one of these questions embedded in a Talent Goal tomorrow, and expect that better questions=better thinking=better answers. Share with me the questions you asked! jeanne@educateinnovators.com.
“No longer the special tool of people such as scientific problem solvers, inventors, and artists, a talent for elastic thinking is now an important factor in anyone’s ability to thrive.”
Leonard Mlodinow, Elastic: Unlocking your Brain’s Ability to Embrace Change, p. 11.