the power of questioning

“Any doubts?”

Silence.

For many teachers, this is the most common response when they ask students if they have questions. At first, it seems reassuring—maybe they understood everything. But soon enough, the test papers tell a different story.

Why don’t students ask questions? Is it fear? Habit? A lack of curiosity?

A closer look reveals a mix of all three. Many students don’t know how to ask, what to ask, or whether it’s even okay to ask at all. Years of rote learning have conditioned them to believe that answering questions is what matters—not asking them.

But the truth is, a student who learns to ask the right questions is already on the path to deeper learning. And if we want to create curious, independent thinkers, we need to reimagine the role of questioning in the classroom.

From Silence to a Classroom Full of Questions

Like most teachers, I started my journey by simply asking, “Do you have any questions?” The usual response? A room full of blank faces. For a while, I assumed they understood the lesson and moved on.

Over time, I realised that silence didn’t mean understanding—it often meant hesitation. Some students weren’t sure what to ask. Others feared their questions would sound silly. Some were just used to sitting back and letting the teacher do all the talking.

So, I changed the approach. Instead of waiting for students to voluntarily ask questions, I made questioning an active part of the learning process.

Step 1: Making Questions Non-Negotiable

Rather than asking, “Any doubts?”, I started saying, “We won’t move on until I hear at least two questions.” At first, students hesitated. A few asked something just to meet the quota. But the more we did this, the more natural it became. Soon, questions weren’t just routine—they were expected.

Some days, I’d deliberately introduce a small error in a concept and casually ask, “Any questions?” When no one noticed, I’d pause and say, “I have one. Are you sure everything I wrote is correct?” That’s when the real engagement began. Students leaned in, examined the work more carefully, and started challenging what they saw instead of passively accepting it.

Step 2: Helping Students Think Like Teachers

When students struggled to come up with questions, I flipped the process: “If you were the teacher, how would you test this topic?”

This changed everything. Instead of being passive recipients of information, they stepped into the role of a questioner. Once, while teaching ratios and proportions, a student framed a question using cricket scores:

“If a batsman scores 50 runs in 4 overs, how many will he score in 10?”

That was a turning point. He had taken a mathematical concept and connected it to something he loved. The more students linked questioning to real-world situations, the more engaged they became.

Step 3: Pushing for Better Questions

Not all questions lead to deeper thinking. Initially, students would ask, “What is democracy?”—a surface-level factual question. Instead of answering directly, I’d nudge them further:

“Why do you think democracy exists?”

“What would happen if there was no democracy?”

The shift was slow but noticeable. They weren’t just asking what something was but why it mattered. And that’s where critical thinking begins.

Step 4: Encouraging Ownership of Learning

The best way to reinforce learning is to let students take charge of it. Instead of giving them questions, I asked them to create their own:

“If I were to test you on this topic, what’s a tricky question I might ask?”

At first, the questions were basic. But as we continued, students started coming up with challenging, well-thought-out questions that made even their peers stop and think.

To take it further, they exchanged papers and solved each other’s questions. The classroom transformed into a space where students weren’t just answering—they were thinking, analysing, and creating.

Step 5: Normalising “I Don’t Know”

Students often hesitate to ask because they think not knowing something is embarrassing. So, I made it a point to show them that even teachers don’t have all the answers.

When a student asked a question I didn’t know, I’d say, “That’s a great question! Let’s find the answer together.”

This did two things:

1. It reassured students that learning is an ongoing process, not a test of who knows more.

2. It gave them the confidence to ask without fear of judgment.

Soon, the number of “What if…” and “Why does…” questions increased. And that’s when I knew—the culture of questioning was truly taking root.

Why This Matters Beyond the Classroom

Encouraging questioning isn’t just about improving classroom discussions. It’s about shaping independent thinkers—students who don’t just accept information at face value but analyse, challenge, and explore.

A student who asks why in a history lesson might grow up to question why certain societal structures exist. A student who pushes for deeper understanding in science might one day push the boundaries of innovation.

If we want students to be more than just test-takers, we have to teach them to be question-askers.

So, the next time you’re about to say, “Any doubts?”—pause.

Try something different.

And watch how a simple shift can transform the way students think.