MODULE 7

LESSON 1: QUESTIONING

The text below is adopted from Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide
to theory and practice. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The possibility of students engaging in critical self-reflection, increasing self-awareness, and potentially
transforming perspectives should not be left to chance. Teachers should help people articulate and examine beliefs
and assumptions that have been previously assimilated without questioning.

Questions are effective in establishing an environment where people can figure out things for themselves, and
questioning develops a constructive process appropriate for fostering transformative learning. Through thinking
about and responding to questions, new avenues for understanding, and new ways of seeing things are opened up.

General guidelines for asking good questions:

1. Be specific—relate questions to specific events and situations

2. Move from the particular to general
3. Be conversational
4. Avoid echoing students’ responses to a question
5. Use follow-up questions or probes to encourage more specific responses
6. Do not ask questions that can be responded to in a simplistic, “yes-no” way
7. Ask questions that draw on learners’ experiences and interests in relation to the topic.

Kinds of questions that foster critical self-reflection and self-knowledge:

1. Content reflection questions. These questions serve to raise learners' awareness of assumptions and beliefs. On
a personal level (psychological habits of mind), content questions take the form

What do you know or believe about yourself? What do you see as your skills in this area? What would you like to
improve? What are your feelings about this decision?
On a social level (sociolinguistic habits of mind), content reflection questions take the form of
What are the social norms in this context? What view do the media present? What would be the feminist view on
this issue? What would you say to this if you were the union leader?

Content reflection can also be related to knowledge and the way we obtain knowledge (epistemic habits of mind),
moral-ethical perspectives, philosophical views, and aesthetics. For example,

What knowledge have you gained from your experience in this area? What does your conscience tell you? What
religious or philosophical concepts inform your view? What about this is beautiful?

2. Process reflection questions. These questions address how a person has come to hold a certain perspective.
Suppose it is a problem being reflected on, process questions as to how the issue became a problem. Asking
questions helps learners find the source of an assumption or a belief; sometimes, it is useful to ask people if they
can recall a time when they did not hold a particular belief and then work forward from that time. Example of
process reflection questions on a personal level (psychological habits of mind):
How did you come to see yourself this way? How did you choose this career? Can you recall how you came to hate
statistics? How was your view of poverty as a kid in a rural area?

Psychological beliefs are often uncritically assimilated in childhood, so process questions may be difficult to
answer. On a social level (sociolinguistic habits of mind), process questions aim to unearth the source of social
norms that have been absorbed without thought. Again, those norms absorbed in childhood can be quite hard to
identify. For example,
How did the community where you grow up influence that view? How did your experiences in high school shape
what you believe? Has the media had an effect on what you believe? How does advertising influence your buying
habits?

Process reflection questions can also be asked of epistemic perspectives, moral-ethical perspectives, philosophical
perspectives, and aesthetics. For example,
How did you come to the conclusion that this theory is valid? What led you to see this as unethical? How did you
decide this research is flawed? What led you to see this as unethical?

3. Premise reflection questions. These questions get at the core of our belief systems. They encourage the
examination of the foundations of perspectives. Questions take the form of

Why is this important in the first place? Why should I care about this? Why does it matter that you are afraid of
spiders? Why do I need to get married in the first place?
Care needs to be taken when asking premise questions about deeply held personal points of view; thinking about
such issues can be emotional and traumatic.
Premise questions in the sociolinguistic domain are the essence of critical theory. Ideology critique is one of the
four traditions of criticality. Ideologies are embedded in our languages, social norms, and cultural expectations.
They are reified—they appear as givens and are difficult to dig out and examine. Hegemony is perpetuated through
mass media images and messages as well as social and institutional expectations and norms. People learn to live by
the dominant system of beliefs. For example,

Why do you value hard work? What is it relevant to what your extended family thinks? Why do you care about
pleasing your boss? Why do you associate freedom with war?

In regard to epistemic, moral-ethical, philosophical, and aesthetic habits of mind, premise questions take the form
of
Why is that knowledge important? Why do we need to know that? Why is art influential in personal life? Why
would we concern ourselves with the existence of God?

4. Feeling questions. These questions ask about spirit and body and call for imaginative perception in
understanding constraints. For example, carpenters and mechanics who are becoming teachers of carpentry and
mechanics are changing everything about themselves, not just a cognitive perspective on their practice. What do
they do with feelings of superiority based on being able to do physical tasks with ease? How do they deal with their
friends’ views of teachers as soft and lazy? Where do they put their pride in their working man’s calloused hands?

Assessment 1
In this activity, you are asked to give examples of the four types of questions that foster critical reflection and self-
knowledge. The number inside the cell indicates the number of questions required. You may want to review
module/unit 3 to answer this activity. You decide on what particular Filipino habits of mind your critical questions
are targeting. Other beliefs and assumptions might also be the basis of your questions. You may also formulate
questions about your belief system. 15 points.

Content Reflection Questions

1. Psychological habit of mind (1)

What characteristics do I have which helped me cope up with life and academe in this time of
pandemic?

2. Sociolinguistic habit of mind (1)

What are my opinions over the government’s lack of financial assistance to health workers who
are first to fight against Covid-19?

Process Reflection Questions

1. Psychological habit of mind

Can you recall how you have come to hate a certain subject but found interest after?

2. Sociolinguistic habit of mind (1)

How did the experiences from the Immersion subject helped you view your chosen
course in college?

Premise Reflection Questions (2)

Why is poverty greatly associated with injustice?
Why do we need to prioritize our people and our environment?
Feeling Questions (1)

How do you deal with your friend’s view on members of LGBT community?