The POWER of a QUESTIONING CULTURE…

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Ask yourself a question – what is at the heart of almost everything we think, feel and do as a species?

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QUESTIONS! 

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Be they closed- or open-ended, questions drive how human beings listen, think and behave…And, I’m not just talking about matters of life, the universe and everything – you know, the questions our kids ask us (*):

• Why do baked beans give us gas?
• Why do people shrink when they get really old?
• Why do men have nipples (if they can’t have babies)?

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We know (don’t we?) that questions are the secret to more effective student LEARNing (esp. when these questions come from our kids and students). We know (don’t we?) that questions can help teachers do a better job of supporting student (and their own) LEARNing. We know (don’t we?) that questions can help improve team, departmental and institutional performance levels…

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So, why is it that we ask so few questions – and even fewer questions that really “matter”? And, when many of us do ask questions – why is it that so many of them are just so God-damn awful?

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Over the years, I have had the priviledge of working for a number of larger (and smaller) educational institutions and also been a consultant for others.

Some of these could be described as “effective”, some others…not so much!

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What I have noticed in the “less effective organisations” is a series of “patterns” vis-a-vis the questions people in the institutions ask (or do not ask):

• Many of those at the “lower-levels” of these insistutions do NOT ask many questions at all (esp. of those at the “top”) – it’s almost as if they have been “conditioned” not to ask questions and “trained” to assume that it’s OK to “bitch” and “moan” when things do not go well (a lot more when the “bosses” are not around).

• Many of those in the “middle” ask questions – but questions that often seem to have been “crafted” by UN diplomats or “engineered” to make those at the top look “wiser” or “smarter” than they actually are. Mostly, however, the questions asked by this group are about getting “permission” – or making sure those at the top “sign off” on ideas that might be a bit “risky” (this forms part of a much more complex matrix of “CYA strategies”).

• Those at the “top” ask the most questions – but many of these questions are about “What’s new?” or “How can we (be seen to) be different?” (for example). Other questions seem focussed on “bitching” and “moaning”, too – or, more specifically, seem to come from a place that is all about “pointing fingers” and “assigning blame”.

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I refer to organisations and institutions that exhibit all three patterns (together) as “dinosaurs that just do not know they are already extinct” – and if we knew how many of them really exist out there (in education), we’d not get a lot of sleep at night!

Extinct…because the world has changed…and it’s continuing to change faster than ever.

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These ineffective and dinosaur-like institutions just don’t seem to “get” this (I was going to say something about “brains the size of peas” – but you’ve all read Darwin, yes?).

It seems as if many of them are “scared” of embracing the “energy” that real, powerful questions could bring them – and prefer to opt for “improvement initiatives” that are, in practice, little more than re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic…

So, what is it that inhibits the “evolution” of these institutions or prevents them from carrying out the type of “adaptive imagineering” that is required?

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In a word…

Sadly, organisational cultures that “live” in the past…cultures that thrive on the “prestige” of the past…and are dominated by out-dated notions of respect, deference and tradition.

This is why – IMHO – we see the three “patterns” I noted earlier!

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Don’t get me wrong!

I’m not some kind of “whacko-educational-bolshevic” (OK – maybe just a bit)! It just seems so “dumb” to try to protect a “status quo” at the expense of what really matters – but, then again, maybe it’s just people protecting their own “status” that is the real problem.

For me, respect (prestige, too – even though there is nothing “real” about it) is something that has to be earned (and re-earned every day). It is earned best by thinking-doers who prioritise “service to others”, especially during challenging times – not those that demand that they “be served” by others (and egos “fed” with a healthy diet of flattery and hot air).

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OK – went a wee bit off track there! 

The bottom line is that…the original dinosaurs were not very good at QUESTIONING, either!

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Those of you that pick up allthingslearning on a regular basis from your newsagent (I must admit I do miss one or two “pre-historic traditions”) will also know that we try to use a “questioning insight” on a pretty regular basis…

• QUESTIONS about allthingsteaching
• QUESTIONS about allthingscurriculum
• QUESTIONS about allthingsassessment

We have tried to bring all these together as:

• QUESTIONS about allthingseducationalliteracy 

And, also looked at how these align with: 

• QUESTIONS about allthingstechnology 

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Come on…we’ve even touched on: 

• QUESTIONS about allthingsparenting

 

However, in matters of “culture” – we keep coming back to many of the same points. One of these is:

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It is for this reason that we have suggested a wide range of: 

• QUESTIONS about allthingsbestpractice
• QUESTIONS about allthingspurpose

And,

• QUESTIONS about allthingsleadership 

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The problem is that questions like these are only useful if an institution has  a questioning culture.

“Effective” institutions do, “ineffective” ones do not…

And, instıtutions that have a questioning culture usually have “questioning leaders” that know how to ask the right questions and encourage others to do the same.

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“Effective” institutions do this, “ineffective” ones do NOT…

The original dinosaurs didn’t get the “memo” from Deming.

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I wonder how many of today’s dinosaurs might “wake up” before it is too late – and then, how many of them would decide to do something about their questions…or just look for someone else to blame!

This might need a post-script!

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(*) If you are really interested in finding the “answers” to these questions, check out Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg’s book Why do men have nipples? – Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini (Three Rivers Press, 2005). I chose these three because my big, little girl did, over her “7 ages”, actually asked me these (but Mark and Billy had not published the book at that time).

I have it now…and, I’m gonna be an awesome grandpa one day!

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From BEST PRACTICE to NEXT PRACTICE…

Those of you that know allthingslearning reasonably well will know that I often talk of the problems associated with the culture of “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak” (the Turkish translation for “borrowing, ripping off, and faking-it-till-you-make-it”).

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Peter Block tells us that cultures like that of the “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak” variety are the result of the fact that our world is “answer-orientated”.

I would take this further, we also live in a world that is addicted to the notions of the “quick-fix” or “magic bullets”.

 

Despite a wealth of theory and research that has clearly demonstrated the power of adopting a “questioning insight” and questioning processes for use at the individual, group and organisational level, our first response to a “challenge” is to search for answers, solutions and best practices. Indeed, when we do ask questions, it is usually to obtain more information, more solutions and more “best practices” – and then try to “out-do” the competition to get “another 15 minutes”.

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Don’t get me wrong – I am not suggesting that Best Practices are a waste of time! They can and do:

• Help us gain insights into techniques, methods or processes that have proven themselves over time
• Support institutional efforts to maintain quality through “benchmarking”
• Promote learning

 

The problem is that while Best Practices are necessary – they are not sufficient! 

Best Practices do not always help us recognise that it is questions that drive the thinking and learning process…and, that this learning is the thing that can lead us to consider different ways of “doing business” or “Next Practice”. 

Sadly, in many organisations and institutions we are taught not to open Pandora’s Box and to avoid challenging conversations or experiences. Some commentators believe this strongly, for example, Boshyk suggests that it is often the case that people are “paid not to ask questions”.

Asking questions, for many, represents an “admission of ignorance” – we all know (especially in education) the “power of knowing” and the consequences of not knowing (or even “appearing not to know”).

This is why we focus on the “answers” others have produced – and call it “benchmarking”!

 

Block maintains that our answer-orientated world has become obsessed with the question “What works?” and fails to recognise that any important change can only take place through an “inward journey” centred on meaningful learning conversations around “What matters?”.

He begins with a concern about modern life that many of us “feel” all too much – more and more of us are doing more and more about things that mean less and less! 

Sound familiar?

 

This is a direct consequence of our answer-orientated world and obsession with one form of question that Block describes as “how to pragmatism”. Block notes that most individuals, groups and organisations approach challenges through the question:

• How do I do this?

When we ask how to do something, suggests Block, the very question expresses our bias for what is practical, concrete, and immediately useful, often at the expense of “what matters”. The very question itself becomes a defence against action.

Furthermore, the question is also frequently used as a “tool” by those who want to “keep their heads down and stick to the rules” – rather than “acting on what matters”.

The question, maintains Block, is further reinforced by the family of other “how-questions” that inevitably follow in its wake:

• How are other people doing it successfully?
• How much does this cost?
• How long will it take?
• How do you get those people to change?

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Block’s ideas are extremely attractive at a common sense level but they raise the question of “what are the right questions”?

Block proposes that meaningful change or transformation can never come from collecting lists of best practices; it comes from asking profound questions that “entail paradox, questions that recognize that every answer creates its own set of problems”.

 

So what are these questions?

Block offers a range of suggestions that include:

• Whom are we here to serve?
• What do we want to create together?
• How will the world be different tomorrow as a result of what we do today?

As alternatives to the family of other “how-questions”, he suggests:

• What refusal have we been postponing?
• What is the price we are willing to pay?
• What commitment are we willing to make?
• What is our contribution to the problem we are concerned with?

 

So, how could we draw on his insights to look deeper at the challenges we face in education?

Educators (and politicians more so in recent years) have been asking questions about our schools and universities for years. Questions like;

• What “works” in other educational systems?
• How do we motivate and get students to learn better?
• How do we improve student performance levels?

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These questions have led to the creation of hundreds of thousands of pages of recommendations, policy initiatives and project briefs – as well as a very healthy increase in the number of “educational tourists” flying to Finland, Singapore and now (thanks to PISA) to Shanghai!

If we look closer at such questions and the answers recommended, we start to “sense” how we have imported the quick-fix mentality of Block’s “how to pragmatism” into our schools and universities.

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A review of the strategic planning tools and quality improvement agendas of most schools and universities reveals an absence of questions that might provoke deeper thought and real change.

We find far too few questions like:

• What are we here to do for our learners?
• What really “matters” in an education system?
• What stops students from learning in our schools and education system?
• What is wrong with the way we are currently “doing business” in education?

We still find educational stakeholders asking the “weaker” or “less stimulating” questions like:

• What should we teach?
• What is “good” teaching?
• How should we improve the quality of teaching?

In short, rather than the instrumental questions of the culture of “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak”, such as:

• How can we differentiate ourselves from other schools and universities?

 

…we need to be asking questions like:

• What does it take for a learner to flourish in the complex realities of the 21st century?
• What can we do to expand and improve the learning of all our students and staff?
• What can we do to dramatically increase the ability of our schools and our teachers to learn and keep on learning?
• How do we know this?

It is exactly these types of questions that will ensure we do not just “borrow” someone else’s “solutions” to someone else’s “challenges” (and avoid the trap of “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak”).

And, hopefully…help us create “Next Practice” that is relevant to our learners, our teachers and our institutions.

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