1. TEACHER-TO-TEACHER (EDUCATION WORLD, DECEMBER 2007)
TELLING IS NOT TEACHING.
This summer I travelled by train to different parts of the country, often enjoying the company of
families on holiday. On one long distance journey, my travelling companions were a mother with her
three children aged seven, five and three. At one point the train stopped outside a small station for some
time and the youngest child was rather bored and cranky (the older two were occupied with colouring
books). The scene outside was typically village India and the mother, whom I discovered in
conversation was a primary school teacher, tried to direct the whining child’s attention to the scene
outside. “Look, see the cow… see the buffalo… see the man milking the buffalo… see the goats under
the tree… see the woman getting water from the well…” etc. The child expressed some interest for a
while, but it wasn’t long before the whining began again – long before the train moved on to the
station.
A common scene, but one which illustrates the typical approach to teaching in many classrooms
around the country – teachers think their job is to tell their students what they believe the latter need to
know. But there is another way, which can be illustrated from the train scene. The conversation
between mother (teacher) and child could have gone like this (with appropriate pauses for reply and
free discussion after each question):
“What can you see outside the window? Can you name those animals? Can you see a cow? What
colour is it? What colour is that other animal? What is the man doing to that animal? Yes, he’s milking
it – do you like milk? That’s where we get our milk from; how do you think it gets from the milkman to
our house? What are those animals under the tree? Can you count how many there are? What is the
lady doing? Why does she have to get water from the well, doesn’t she have a tap in her house?’ etc.”
Such questions are more likely to engage the interest of the child and lead to an effective learning
experience.
The difference is obvious. It is all too easy, and common, for us adults (parents and teachers) to tell
children what we think they need to know, rather than ask questions to help them explore and discover
the world around them in a way that strengthens what they already know. Of course teachers know the
difference in theory; they know about ‘child-centred learning’. But it is rarely practiced, because there
is a deep rut that runs throughout the education system and traps most teachers in classrooms; it is a
legacy of the lecture style (i.e. ‘telling’) that flows down from the hallowed classrooms of colleges and
universities. But this style is inappropriate for children in schools and inhibits child centered,
interactive learning that stretches a child’s imagination and the innate interest to discover and learn, so
amply illustrated by a toddler’s unending use of ‘why?… but why?’.
Using questions appropriately is a fundamental part of a teacher’s trade and yet it is rarely and so
poorly used. Here are a few pointers to help teachers improve their use of questions.
Closed questions. They close down the range of possible replies by requiring quick and simple ‘yes’ or
‘no’ answers. For example, “Did you have breakfast this morning?” “Did you complete your
homework?” “Did you pass your test?” Closed questions can be changed into ‘open questions’…

2. Open questions. They elicit fuller answers to open up discussion, as they require more than a simple
‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. For example: the very same questions can be differently framed. “What did you
have for breakfast?” “How much time did it take you to finish your homework?” “How was the test?”
Open questions are preferable for classroom teaching because they often lead to ‘probing questions’…
Probing questions. These delve into a situation with the intent of eliciting greater information and
detail, with the teacher able to lead the dialogue in a particular direction. So to continue with our stock
sample questions: “What made your breakfast a healthy breakfast?” “Who helped you with your
homework?” “Why do you think you didn’t score more in your test?” Probing questions can be used
with good effect in the classroom to investigate or interrogate and to spur students to think more deeply
about a subject or issue.
Hypothetical questions. Such questions encourage students to think ‘outside the box’, to apply
interrogatory principles to other situations, to contemplate implications. For example: “How would you
feel by lunch time if you hadn’t had a healthy breakfast?” “What would have happened if you had done
your homework by yourself?” “How do you think you would do if you were to repeat the test
tomorrow?” Notice the use of the conditional tense.
Reflective and summary questions. Although rarely used, such questions can be very effective to
review and reinforce what has already been taught. “What did you say you ate for breakfast?” “Can you
tell me again which questions in the test you found difficult?” Such questions build teacher-student
rapport and confidence, making the teaching-learning process more effective.
Unspecific, undirected questions. These are questions such as: “Has everybody finished?” “Do you
all understand?” “What’s the answer to 2 x 10?” Inevitably there’s a chorus of answers such as: “Yes
Maam!” and “20”. In the process those who haven’t finished, who don’t understand, and who didn’t
know that 2 x 10 = 20, will be bypassed in the learning process. I wish there was a way to eradicate
non-specific, undirected questions in classrooms. Their usage creates indiscipline and diminishes the
effectiveness of learning, and this can easily be overcome if we attach a name to every question.
If only teachers would realize that inherent in the train scene is the key to unlock potential for learning
that spans the various disciplines/ subjects found in any curriculum: language (vocabulary and
grammar), maths, science, social studies etc. A revolution in the approach to teaching is urgently
required. Instead of telling children what we believe they need to know, we need to ask questions that
will help them discover and build on what they already know, want to know, and need to know.
John Barclay,
Co-Director of Destiny Education Mumbai Pvt. Ltd
info@destinyeducation.net; www.destinyeducation.net