The aim of this chapter is to show that question are vital in communication. We question everything and it is so important in education to question to learn. Not only should the children question but the teachers also.
One of the key themes is education. All the points in the passage lead back to the central concern of education. “Information seeking is a core human activity that is central to learning, decision making and problem solving”. Ultimately questioning is what lays the foundation for life long learning and it is so important that children are able to question everything to understand what they are learning instead of just being told everything without elaboration.
Stress is a theme which is touched upon. The way you ask questions can lead to anxiety and make the situation for the child unpleasant thus it is not healthy for the child’s mental health and can lead to the child from holding back from answering future questions. So although questioning is important, the way you introduce them is also important. In the classroom rapid fire questioning like in the court room is not sensible.
Another key theme is equality. The passage states that those who are “male, white, high income groups, those with higher self-esteem, those who felt accepted by the teacher” feel more at ease with asking questions. Clearly, this shows that the more predominant and wealthier feel more confident within themselves and that minority groups have insecurities which holds them back from learning. However the fact that those who feel accepted by the teacher fall into the same box highlights that a teacher can do something to break these barriers.
