In my research around the monthly habits and dispositions shared in Onward, I often find videos that have been viewed a million or more times, and some are so powerful and necessary that I share again here in this space. And every so often I stumble across videos like this TEDx Inya Lake talk. This video has only been viewed about 6,ooo times and yet it shares such a powerful message about the importance of inquiry. It’s these hidden gems that need to be watched.
In her talk, Helen Waller talks about teaching in Myanmar and she uses the concept in the proverb, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime and adapts it to inquiry education: “If you ask a child a question, they will generally learn for at least one day. If you teach a child to question, they will learn for a lifetime.” Waller shares about a young Myanmar student who learns to thrive through his use of questions.
Watch and think about your school system or the system that your children go to. What is possible when we take an inquiry stance?