Few tools are more critical to learning than the ability to ask good questions. Unfortunately, most people believe that a good question is open-ended and a bad question is closed-ended. Not true.

This traditional standard is grossly inaccurate. Exceptional questions can be open and closed-ended. My daughter asked me, “Can dogs see better than humans at night?” This is an excellent question. The fact that it is closed-ended doesn’t matter.

Abandon the old definition of a good question. Don’t worry about whether a question begins with who, what, where, when, why , or how.

Consider a new standard for good questions:

1) Was the question’s origin authentic curiosity?

2) Did the question awaken curiosity in others?

3) Did the question generate additional good questions?

Promote learning and engage students at a deeper level by asking excellent questions. Better yet, teach students how to recognize and ask good questions for themselves. Few skills are more important for life-long learning.

Tags: adolescent health, creativity, curiosity, divergent questions, educational reform, prevention education, student engagement

What makes for good poetry makes for good education.

Consider the following similarities:

1. Excellent poetry motivates the reader to want to know more.

2. The poet engages his or her reader by doing less.

3. Poems leave large margins of space.

4. Poetry confuses the reader at first, encouraging him or her to pursue a deeper understanding.

5. I have to work to understand the true meaning of a poem.

6. Only the poet’s essential message makes it to paper—no extraneous details!

7. When I finally arrive at an understanding of the poem, my understanding is personal, meaningful, and has the power to change how I see things.

Tags: adolescent health, creativity, divergent questions, engaging youth, prevention programs

1. Teacher provides answers.

2. Teacher asks convergent questions and students furnish predictable answers.

3. Teacher asks divergent questions.

4. Teacher invites students to contribute ideas and opinions.

5. Teacher becomes curious about student ideas and opinions.

6. Students become curious and ask earnest questions.

7. Fueled by a sense of wonder, students and teacher collaborate for meaningful answers.

Tags: adolescent health, communicating with youth, connecting with youth, divergent questions, educational reform, prevention program, prevention programs