Kelly & Christenbury’s Questioning Circle

An Example

Why should try to build my ability to ask good questions?

“A key quality of self directed, reflective learners is their ability to pose ‐their own questions which help direct their learning.” (Chin, 2002)

In order to pose questions, you have to think deeply about something. By practicing creating questions, listening to the questions of peers, and thinking about what makes something an effective question, you will get better and better at developing your ability to ask good questions.

We are going to use a framework called “Questioning Circles” (developed by Kelly and Christenbury). Frameworks such as this one will help you to think deeply about the topic.

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Here is what the framework looks like:

Here is a quotation from the documentary we will be watching:

Tanya Tagaq: Looking at that DEW Line site as a child, I was kind of taught that it was like, “Look at this awesome thing. It’s going to protect us, it’s going to protect us and everything’s going to be great because we’ve got this amazing protection.

I didn’t understand until I went to Europe. I started having a deeper, way deeper respect for “white people” because it’s like “Oh, there’s the root of their culture. (points to structures on DEW Line) That’s where they came from” And you know, let’s be frank, you spent the last couple thousand years scrapping (laughs) over every little bit of land there was over there. Like, you know, you guys were warring people, so when you came over you were still warring people and you didn’t know what to do but be warring people.

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So, I am going to start with the questions I find easiest to create first. I want my questions to cause me to think.

The speaker, Tanya mentions the DEW Line, and she points to it. I thought the Cold War between the US and Russia was over; why is the DEW line still there? Is it something that is noticeable from far away?

I wonder what it would be like to live in a place that is so far away from other communities?

Tanya talks about how travelling to Europe gave her a different worldview – one that made her aware of war. I wonder how different my life would have been I didn’t know about wars and conflicts?

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Then, I tackle the ones that are a bit harder. This might be easier if I build on ideas in the first questions I started with…

Is the way the Inuit see the world and the way people get along so much different than it is elsewhere? Did they not face the same sort of conflicts with westerners that First Nations and Métis faced?

I wonder who Tanya Tagaq is and why she was picked by the author to be interviewed?

I never really thought about how difficult it would be to see the rest of the world if I was Inuit. Are there many people who visit the north or opportunities for Inuit people to leave their communities?

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Finally, I try to do the hardest ones. I might come up with a better question after I hear what other people in my group ask…but I will do my best.

Is Tanya Tagaq angry about having white people come into her community? Wouldn’t life be better for the Inuit with electricity and roads and stores, etc.? I can’t imagine living without those things in such a cold place. How terrible would that be?

Wow, I have created way more questions than I thought I could. I wonder if I will be able to answer any of these questions from

watching the documentary? I wonder if anyone else in my group had similar questions?

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The speaker, Tanya mentions the DEW Line, and she points to it. I thought the Cold War between the US and Russia was over; why is the DEW line still there? Is it something that is noticeable from far away?

I wonder what it would be like to live in a place that is so far away from other communities?

Tanya talks about how travelling to Europe gave her a different worldview – one that made her aware of war. I wonder how different my life would have been I didn’t know about wars and conflicts?

Is the way the Inuit see the world and the way people get along so much different than it is elsewhere? Did they not face the same sort of conflicts with westerners that First Nations and Métis faced?

I wonder who Tanya Tagaq is and why she was picked by the author to be interviewed?

I never really thought about how difficult it would be to see the rest of the world if I was Inuit. Are there many people who visit the north or opportunities for Inuit people to leave their communities?

Is Tanya Tagaq angry about having white people come into her community? Wouldn’t life be better for the Inuit with electricity and roads and stores, etc.? I can’t imagine living without those things in such a cold place. How terrible would that be?

Handout 2: Questioning Circles

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The speaker, Tanya mentions the DEW Line, and she points to it. I thought the Cold War between the US and Russia was over; why is the DEW line still there? Is it something that is noticeable from far away?

I wonder what it would be like to live in a place that is so far away from other communities?

Tanya talks about how travelling to Europe gave her a different worldview – one that made her aware of war. I wonder how different my life would have been I didn’t know about wars and conflicts?

Is the way the Inuit see the world and the way people get along so much different than it is elsewhere? Did they not face the same sort of conflicts with westerners that First Nations and Métis faced?

I wonder who Tanya Tagaq is and why she was picked by the author to be interviewed?

I never really thought about how difficult it would be to see the rest of the world if I was Inuit. Are there many people who visit the north or opportunities for Inuit people to leave their communities?

Is Tanya Tagaq angry about having white people come into her community? Wouldn’t life be better for the Inuit with electricity and roads and stores, etc.? I can’t imagine living without those things in such a cold place. How terrible would that be?

Handout 3: Sample Questions

Tanya Tagaq: Looking at that DEW Line site as a child, I was kind of taught that it was like, “Look at this awesome thing. It’s going to protect us, it’s going to protect us and everything’s going to be great because we’ve got this amazing protection. I didn’t understand until I went to Europe. I started having a deeper, way deeper respect for “white people” because it’s like “Oh, there’s the root of their culture. (points to structures on DEW Line) That’s where they came from” And you know, let’s be frank, you spent the last couple thousand years scrapping (laughs) over every little bit of land there was over there. Like, you know, you guys were warring people, so when you came over you were still warring people and you didn’t know what to do but be warring people.

Tanya Tagaq: Looking at that DEW Line site as a child, I was kind of taught that it was like, “Look at this awesome thing. It’s going to protect us, it’s going to protect us and everything’s going to be great because we’ve got this amazing protection. I didn’t understand until I went to Europe. I started having a deeper, way deeper respect for “white people” because it’s like “Oh, there’s the root of their culture. (points to structures on DEW Line) That’s where they came from” And you know, let’s be frank, you spent the last couple thousand years scrapping (laughs) over every little bit of land there was over there. Like, you know, you guys were warring people, so when you came over you were still warring people and you didn’t know what to do but be warring people.

Tanya Tagaq: Looking at that DEW Line site as a child, I was kind of taught that it was like, “Look at this awesome thing. It’s going to protect us, it’s going to protect us and everything’s going to be great because we’ve got this amazing protection. I didn’t understand until I went to Europe. I started having a deeper, way deeper respect for “white people” because it’s like “Oh, there’s the root of their culture. (points to structures on DEW Line) That’s where they came from” And you know, let’s be frank, you spent the last couple thousand years scrapping (laughs) over every little bit of land there was over there. Like, you know, you guys were warring people, so when you came over you were still warring people and you didn’t know what to do but be warring people.

Tanya Tagaq: Looking at that DEW Line site as a child, I was kind of taught that it was like, “Look at this awesome thing. It’s going to protect us, it’s going to protect us and everything’s going to be great because we’ve got this amazing protection. I didn’t understand until I went to Europe. I started having a deeper, way deeper respect for “white people” because it’s like “Oh, there’s the root of their culture. (points to structures on DEW Line) That’s where they came from” And you know, let’s be frank, you spent the last couple thousand years scrapping (laughs) over every little bit of land there was over there. Like, you know, you guys were warring people, so when you came over you were still warring people and you didn’t know what to do but be warring people.

Note to teacher – You may wish to print this slide so that each student has a copy of the quotation that inspired the questions in the sample as a reference. It has been included with the resources for this lesson as a separate reproducible document.