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Effective Questioning (Continued)
3. (Continued)
• Ask the group to first listen respectfully to
an answer, even if they disagree with it.
• Then encourage the group to respond to answers
that are controversial. This will lead to a
good group discussion.
After the question has been well discussed, the
field worker may want to sum up the discussion,
emphasizing the important ideas.
Now ask volunteers from among the field workers to
give you examples of open questions.
4. Write on the blackboard an example of a redirected
question, such as:
"Mrs. Karodyo says her whole family drinks water from
the stream without getting sick. She is asking why
she must boil the stream water for her baby. That
is a good question. What do you think the answer is,
Mr. Mbewe?"
Ask the field workers to identify the advantages and
disadvantages of redirecting a question from one
person to another.
NOTE: Discussion should make these poidts.
If someone in the audience asks the field worker
a question, it might be a good idea to ask someone
else in the group to answer. This places responsibility
on the group to think through problems
rather than to rely on the field worker for all the
answers. The advantage is that it directs attention
away from the field worker to the learners. A disadvantage
is that a person may not be prepared to
answer a question redirected to her and may feel uncomfortable
about answering in front of the group;
this is most often true when the question is a closed
question requiring factual information.
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