Stingray Questions

In Ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates walked around the city streets of Athens posing difficult questions to the people he met.

His aim was to press them on their thinking, to draw out the assumptions and inconsistencies that lay beneath their thought, and, perhaps, to help them think better as a result.

We know about Socrates through the Dialogues of Plato.

In these books, Plato, one of Socrates’ students, relates philosophical conversations involving his mentor.

We do not know if Plato’s representation of Socrates gives a true picture of his thought, or whether it is more accurately seen as a representation of Plato’s thinking.

But what we can say, is that the character of Socrates poses different types of questions.

These include, but are not limited to:

• Gadfly Questions
• Midwife Questions
• Ignoramus Questions
• Stingray Questions

It is the last of these with which we are concerned here.

Stingray questions pack a jolt.

Just like the stingray itself.

They shock or surprise learners into thinking differently.

They challenge learners to look at what they thought they knew from a different angle, and to reassess their thinking as a result.

Here are some examples of stingray questions:

• What if you had to describe an algorithm as a poem?
• What if the Vietnam War had ended in the first six months?
• What if what you perceive as courage is seen by other people as recklessness?
• What if you could travel beside a beam of light?
• What if this is not a question?

The ‘what if’ question stem is a useful one to use when formulating stingray questions.

It is not the only approach you can take, though.

Here are some other examples:

• Imagine you had to do it again but without using any adjectives. What would the story be like then?
• Imagine that gravity was half as powerful, what might happen to this room and the things inside it?
• How would the poem sound if it had been written from the perspective of the lark?
• What would need to occur for 1 + 1 not to equal 2?
• How could you tell me that without using words?
• Where does meaning start?
• Is maths a language?
• How do you know that what you know is true?
• If sport involves luck, why do people try so hard?
• When did you start to understand the meaning of this question?

Stingray questions are an opportunity to have a lot of fun!

They push learners to think in ways they might otherwise ignore or pass over.

For this reason, and as the questions above illustrate, they are challenging.

Regular use of stingray questions helps you to create a culture of challenge in your classroom.

They usually require a little bit of preparation time – but once you have a good one, you’ll be able to use it year after year.

Also, when first introducing them, you might need to show learners how to go about answering.

This means giving them some strategies for deciphering and then responding to questions of this type.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

I’m sure you’re familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (for more on which, see my book on the topic and my free resource The Bloom Buster).

Here’s a quick reminder.

The taxonomy was put together in the 1950s.

It classifies the cognitive processes learners use in school.

These are ranked in a hierarchy of mastery, from easiest to hardest.

That is, from knowledge to comprehension to application, to analysis, to synthesis and, finally, to evaluation (although subsequent research suggests the last two could be switched around).

The taxonomy retains relevance today as the processes it delineates, as well as their relationships to one another, remain the same as they were.

It is still in widespread use in teaching and assessment.

It is frequently used as a framework underpinning exams and tests.

So, the taxonomy is a hierarchy.

As you go up the levels, the degree of challenge increases.

Understanding something (comprehension) is more challenging than recalling it (knowledge).

Analysing something is more challenging than applying it, and so on.

All of this leads us to the conclusion that the taxonomy is the teacher’s friend.

It provides a tried and tested basis for structuring activities, lessons, and schemes of work in such a way that the level of challenge consistently increases.

Using the taxonomy regularly means that you can ensure the work you plan is always challenging.

In addition, you can use the taxonomy to:

• Tailor questioning to individual learners, so that it is suitably challenging.
• Create extension tasks.
• Let learners create challenging questions or tasks (by opening it up and inviting them to use it).

Finally, it is worth noting that explaining the taxonomy to learners will help them to understand where the level of challenge in your lessons comes from.

This makes it easier for them to start establishing strategies when faced with tasks or questions of different types.

Oh, one more thing, here is a set of keywords to help you and your learners create your challenge culture:

Knowledge

• Arrange, Define, Describe, List, Match, Memorise, Name, Order, Quote, Recognise, Recall, Repeat, Reproduce, Restate, Retain.

Comprehension

• Characterise, Classify, Complete, Describe, Discuss, Establish, Explain, Express, Identify, Illustrate, Recognise, Report, Relate, Sort, Translate.

Application

• Apply, Calculate, Choose, Demonstrate, Dramatize, Employ, Implement, Interpret, Operate, Perform, Practise, Role-Play, Sketch, Solve, Suggest.

Analysis

• Analyse, Appraise, Categorize, Compare, Contrast, Differentiate, Discriminate, Distinguish, Examine, Experiment, Explore, Investigate, Question, Research, Test.

Synthesis

• Combine, Compose, Construct, Create, Devise, Design, Formulate, Hypothesise, Integrate, Merge, Organise, Plan, Propose, Synthesise, Unite.

Evaluation

• Appraise, Argue, Assess, Critique, Defend, Evaluate, Examine, Grade, Inspect, Judge, Justify, Rank, Rate, Review, Value.

The Zone of Uncertainty

Some years ago, I was reading an introduction to the life and work of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.

For most of the book I found myself in a daze.

It was like wading through a marsh with lead in your boots and a sack of coal strapped to your back.

Eventually, I reached the end.

But it had all been seriously hard work.

For a while afterwards I had a set of concepts buzzing around my head that remained infuriatingly difficult to pin down, let alone apply.

This is an example of going into the zone of uncertainty.

This is where challenge takes you. It isn’t comfortable, but it’s a good place to be.

Especially if you persist.

When learning something new, something challenging, you cannot necessarily rely on what you already know to get you through.

In fact, the new learning may require you to recalibrate your existing understanding to take account of it.

In my Kierkegaard example, I found myself deeply uncertain over how to fully comprehend the ideas presented in the book.

After much thinking, further reading, and the advent of time, I got there, just about.

Telling learners about the zone of uncertainty means familiarising them with a useful way in which to characterise the experience of being pushed out of your comfort zone.

It is helpful because it gives them a means through to articulate that experience – and it provides you and them with a shared language through which to speak.

In addition, by giving the term positive connotations you can use it to build a positive view of challenge in learners’ minds.

Here are some examples of how the concept can be used during classroom discussion:

• ‘Right, this is going to be zone of uncertainty time, so get ready to do some serious thinking!’
• ‘If you’re finding this difficult – good! It’s meant to be a challenge. We’re in the zone of uncertainty at the moment, but if we keep working at it, we’ll pull ourselves out.’
• ‘Zone of uncertainty coming up soon, class. Get ready!’
• ‘Miss, I think I’m in the zone of uncertainty at the moment – can we discuss this so I can change my thinking on it?’
• ‘Sir, I’m definitely right in the middle of the zone of uncertainty with this. But I’m going to keep trying before I ask you for help.’

Idealised examples, perhaps.

But they illustrate the benefit of giving a name to the experience of having your thinking challenged.

Of course, other names can be used.

One common alternative is that of ‘the learning pit’.

If you search this on Google Images you can get some good pictures to use with your class.

One final point to conclude.

You might like to attach a scale to the zone of uncertainty.

For example: 1 – 10.

This means you can ask learners the question:

• ‘Where are you in the zone of uncertainty at the moment, if 1 is really uncertain and 10 is almost out the other side?’

This option makes it easier for learners to define precisely how uncertain they feel, giving you access to more specific information, and helping them to articulate a sense of change as they make progress (for example: ‘I was at one, sir, but now I’m like a seven at least!’)