Asking questions more important than answering

We are a country of conformists. The British supremacy made our ancestors and preceding generations bend backwards. We have genetically inherited and have deeply embedded in our psyche the need to conform. We respect those in power especially if they can use authority and power over us.

Education subscribes to these rules too. The Guru Shiksha Parampara has led to a practice of not being able to question or disagree with a senior since we considered it an act of disrespect. In an era when knowledge was central to one person, this may have been true, but does this still hold water in the 'knowledge' era?

During the days when there were princely states, all the information resided only with the king. This information was then disseminated to the courtiers or bureaucrats and the teachers; so these two professionals were the warehouse of knowledge.

However in the knowledge era, the importance to access of information has completely diminished.

The internet is an explosion of information; it is in interpreting, understanding and applying this information where the challenge lies. Therefore, asking the right questions is important. Answering a question is as simple as learning to type on the Google search bar.

The inquiry method of education promoted by John Dewey talks about children not to be told about facts and instead should be made to explain and understand why they are learning.

Inquiry-based learning involves mainly the learner leading him to understand the facts. Inquiry refers to possessing the skills which allows one to ask questions about new issues while one is gaining information.

Inquiry-based learning involves many different factors: a different level of questions, a focus for purposeful questions, a framework and a context for them. With inquiry, the teacher acquires a central role in planning and facilitating the exploration of the ideas as required in the curriculum. The students' role is to take the journey of exploration seriously and to enjoy the process thoroughly.

One of the challenges of the Indian education system is the fact that the system does not create critical thinkers. The key requirements of the 21st century learning skills are creative and critical thinking. In freedom of thought lies creativity and success of the current generation of students will belong to those who can think creatively and critically.

Take the most successful IT business in today's era, and a common pattern of creativity will run through. Be it Google who stole the thunder from Yahoo, by simply refining the search engines, or Facebook which occupies the largest population in cyber space or Twitter which has redefined social interaction; it all boils down to critically assessing needs and then finding out creative solutions for it.

Basically ‘We are all born creative’. However, by the time we enter the 4th year in school to complete the 6th grade we begin to put away our creative ways and stop thinking creatively. The education system and the way the parents and teachers handle curiosity and questioning is the major culprit behind this phenomenon.

The writer is an entrepreneur and educationist