Why is the sky blue? Why is this called a carrot? Why? Why? Why? As parents of young children, this constantly-asked question amused us, confused us, and at some point irritated us to no end. Perhaps, because we did not take the time to rationally look at what that question meant in terms of our child’s intellectual growth.
To a young child, the world is a vastly interesting place. His curiosity makes him want to learn more about everything around him, what it is called, how it works, and how each thing fits into his life. His thirst for learning is ongoing and almost obsessive.
"Why?" is his simple means of indicating his interest and desire to know more, to learn more.
While oftentimes with young children a simple answer will often work to explain a concept, a word, or an idea, as a child grows, their need for knowledge grows with them.
In educational settings, the question "why?" from a student should be viewed as a helpful learning tool motivated by a child’s own interest in a subject. A student’s interest is vital to his ability to learn.
Ask any teacher of any school age child what their biggest teaching challenge is, and most of them will answer that it trying to gain and hold their students’ interest in a subject. How interested a child is in any subject will have a direct impact on how much he learns and how well he retains what he has learned. Therefore, it is essential for educators to use the question "why?" as an effective learning tool.
Instead of answering a students "why?" with a swift reply, teachers should use this question to encourage children to discover the answers for themselves. Whether they are questioning why a certain battle was fought in history or wondering the purpose of a classroom rule. Finding the answer for themselves, with the teacher acting merely as a director, will help the student not only acquire knowledge about the particular subject at hand, but will also teach him how to find answers to other questions himself.
Too often a teacher is so set in covering a certain amount of material that they do not schedule time in their lesson plan for those moments of learning opportunities that may come their way.
These moments may be all a teacher–or a parent, for that matter–has, to capture their student’s or child’s interest and fuel their thirst for knowledge.
Using the student’s own question "why?" as a learning tool, can accomplish more than any lesson plan ever could. Involving the entire class in the search for discovery to answer, the question could prove to be the best thing a teacher can do to improve the quality of education in our schools.
