Let me ask you a question:
What role do questions play in gospel teaching?
(You see what I did there?)
Elder Henry B. Eyring once said “To ask and to answer questions is at the heart of all learning and all teaching.” (Henry B. Eyring, “The Lord Will Multiply the Harvest” [evening with a General Authority, Feb. 6, 1998], 5–6). If asking questions is at the heart of teaching and learning, then it ought to be worth our time and effort to make sure we ask effective questions that inspire critical thinking, introspective thought, and a desire to apply principles. The point isn’t to ask an endless stream of questions, and despite the popular refrain that “there are no such things as bad questions,” some types of questions are better than others. A few well thought out questions will have far greater impact than bombarding our students with a gospel interrogation. We aren’t asking questions for the sake of asking questions or just to get participation. There must be a method to our madness.
While Kevin and Julie will talk about many different types of questions in the Teaching Restored Podcast, let’s focus on one type of question to avoid so that we can allow the Spirit to teach effectively.
AVOID: “Guess What’s in My Pocket” Questions
If you’ve read the book The Hobbit, you’ll remember a critical situation in which our hero, Bilbo Baggins, meets a very scary and hungry creature named Gollum. They play a game of riddles. If Gollum answers incorrectly, Bilbo gets his freedom. If Bilbo answers incorrectly, Gollum will eat Bilbo. In a moment of panic, Bilbo asks a question that ultimately wins the day, but frustrates Gollum: “What have I got in my pocket?” Gollum feels cheated. The question doesn’t take any critical thought or smarts. It could be any number of things. Gollum guesses wrong and Bilbo escapes, but Bilbo earns the everlasting hatred of his slinky and slimy counterpart. (Watch the exchange here for a fun illustration of how we may make our students feel with similar questions)
Many gospel teachers make the mistake of asking this type of question. “Guess what’s in my pocket” questions are very subjective to the teacher and often don’t enrich the lesson in meaningful ways. For example: Why are these the worst types of questions to ask? (This is purely my opinion. There may be many types of questions that are unfruitful or even damaging, but because I asked this question in this way, I’m forcing everyone to guess why I think this rather than asking them to share their thoughts or impressions about what they may think.) Asking questions like this may make students feel like Gollum. They may feel dumb if they get the question “wrong,” or it may make them resentful if they answer with something heartfelt and you brush it aside because it isn’t what was “in your pocket” at that moment. It may even discourage them from answering future questions, regardless of their effectiveness.
As teachers, we often desire to control where the lesson is headed. We want to survive the experience without difficulty or disruption. Maybe if questions are too open-ended our class will take control *gasp* and we won’t get to teach what we prepared. They may eat us alive.
Let me reassure you: Everything will be ok. The Spirit is the real teacher, anyway. Asking questions that invite the Spirit to teach rather than us may lead the class in a direction other than what we planned, but the outcome will be far better, even if it isn’t as neat and tidy as we wanted.
Asking questions that force students to just repeat what you’ve said or read your mind is an impediment to the Spirit and to the individual agency of the student. We can do better.
So rather than make our thoughts the center of our teaching, we should allow the Spirit to guide our students to truth. Elder David A. Bednar taught us what asking inspired questions will lead to:
“The very act of asking questions is inviting them to act. If that student will answer, that is an expression of faith in Christ. …
Our intent ought not to be “What do I tell them?” Instead, the questions to ask ourselves are “What can I invite them to do? What inspired questions can I ask that, if they are willing to respond, will begin to invite the Holy Ghost into their lives?” The questions to ask are really very simple, such as “What are you learning?” By answering questions, that individual is inviting the Holy Ghost to guide his or her answers. Our role is to make it safe to discuss those things and to invite them to act so that the Holy Ghost can teach.
“If you love them and are really trying to do what heaven wants, you will be guided in the simplest of ways.” (David A. Bednar, Evening with a General Authority, February 7, 2020)
Questions have the potential to open the flood gates of revelation so that the Spirit of the Lord can really write the doctrines of the gospel on the hearts of our students. If conversion to Jesus Christ is our goal, we need to invite the Spirit to be the teacher, allow the students the opportunity to truly act, and trust that the Lord will guide us and our students in our questions and answers.
Spencer Tatum