The Power of Not Knowing

I've always had trouble putting my feelings about education and the goals of education into words. I have all these strong feelings and beliefs but yet I find that I struggle to convey these thoughts effectively. I find that when I do put them into words, the words do not do them justice.

For an on-line class I am taking, Advanced Teaching Strategies, we were asked to read a chapter from Instruction: A Model Approach written by Gunter, Estes, and Schwab. As I read the introduction to Chapter 7, Inquiry Models, I found myself agreeing with every word, every sentence. These authors were able to put exactly how I feel into words and not just any words, but powerful words. Below is an excerpt that was truly powerful:

“ Remember when the world was full of questions to ask rather than answer to learn? Somewhere on the way to adulthood, children inevitably get the idea that becoming a grown-up means leaving the world of questioning for the world of knowing. Schools institutionalize the departure from questions to answers as success becomes measured by putting the right answer into the blank or circling the correct response, knowing positively what is true and what is false. Almost all questions in school one right answer and questions for which there are no answers do not often arise. True wisdom, however might better be defined as the realizations of how little one knows in contrast to how much one knows." 

 Inquiry Models chapter of Gunter, M. A., Estes, T. H., & Schwab, J. (2003). Instruction: A models approach (4th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
powerful: As a teacher, I believe in the power and the practice of inquiry learning. As human we were born curious beings. I can remember asking a million questions as a child, and I can't help but wonder why don't I do that still today? My education was a system of here is the answer, learn this fact, your textbook knows all. I do not want my students to think that way. I do not want them to rely on their textbook. Instead, I want them to know how to use resources available to them, but more important I want them to learn how to ask questions, how to take ownership of their knowledge and their learning. Too often as teachers we are afraid of "not knowing" the answers and in return do not seek out questions from our students. I pledge to  never be fearful of not knowing, but rather to embrace it. The beauty of not knowing comes in the journey of knowing ... in the process of asking the question, seeking out the information, and constructing our understanding ... and I cannot wait to join my students on this journey.