Questions as Gifts

At our August 29th gathering the question was asked what it means to ask questions that serve the listener as opposed to the person posing the question.  I'm excited to explore together what it means to offer questions as a gift to the presenter in CFG work. I gave the explanation that these kinds of questions are posed to help move the presenter forward in his or her work instead of to satisfy the curiosity of the questioner, but realized on further thought that this explanation lacked an essential component of this kind of questioning: the belief that wisdom and solutions lie within the teacher asking the questions as opposed to some external source.

For inspiration I revisited  Parker Palmer's Circle of Trust descriptions and came upon this passage I found helpful:

• Asking honest, open questions to “hear each other into speech”: Instead of advising each other, we learn to listen deeply and ask questions that help others hear their own inner wisdom more clearly. As we learn to ask questions that are not advice in disguise, that have no other purpose than to help someone listen to the inner teacher, all of us learn and grow.

As we embark on asking one another questions about our classroom environments, I invite us to play with these ideas about asking questions.  What challenges does this aim in questioning pose?  How does holding these ideas in hand change the kinds of questions we ask? Have you experienced someone in your life who asks you questions that help you find your inner wisdom?

If a colleague asks you such a question in the next few weeks that you find yourself working on and growing from long after it's been asked, please consider sharing its story with us at our next meeting.