Moving Beyond a Classroom Culture of Right-or-Wrong

We’ve all been there: A learner who rarely speaks up finds the courage to answer a question… but it’s not the answer you were looking for. The last thing you want to do is discourage their participation, so you keep your feedback to yourself and say something vague like, “You’re close…!” and then try to get the answer you wanted from another learner. Your response was not unkind, but by glossing over the reluctant learner’s contribution and moving on to try to find a “better” one, you’re still sending the message that different contributions have different worth. As an educator who is conscientious about making learners feel valued and wanting to encourage their participation, you’re left feeling unsettled by the interaction, but what else could you do?

One answer: Shift what you’re asking, and shift what you’re listening for. Ask questions that elicit ideas, not facts. Listen for how learners are making sense of new concepts, and how they’re constructing understanding as a learning community. A space where the goal is for learners to engage authentically with content and to co-construct meaning feels very different than a space where the goal is for everyone to know the right answer.

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