“Keep a Question in
© STEFANIE FELIX
Instant answers rob students of the gift of pondering.
Miriam Hirsch
My lip trembled. I didn’t know the answer the teacher wanted. It felt like veryone’s eyes were
boring into my head. I dropped my
gaze and considered the ink on my
notebook paper, wondering why the
teacher couldn’t just move on and call
on someone else. The silence was thick
with my escalating anxiety. What was
he waiting for? Why was he humiliating me by stretching out my shame?
The teacher who precipitated this
agonizing moment wasn’t a bad man
or an inexperienced teacher. How
could he know that years later this
would remain a painful memory? At
times, all teachers unwittingly wound
their students in ways that leave scars.
Some wounding is inevitable, but if
our manner in questioning becomes as
pressured and fixated on getting “the
right answer” as I experienced in this
searing memory, we may end up
hurting our students more than
inspiring them.
The demand that we link questions and
answers with immediacy, accuracy, and
linearity may deny students the opportunity to wonder and ruminate. In this
atmosphere, we must ask ourselves, Do
we allow ample time to think? Do we
help students deeply engage with ideas
over time and from multiple vantage
points?
Learning to Answer Slowly
The impetus for this article comes from
my work with student teachers as a
teacher educator at Yeshiva University
in New York City. The students I work
with often present a startling resistance
and discomfort when I ask them to
