The Power of "Why?" - asking questions is more powerful than memorizing answers.

Description

Three years ago, Ross A. Kearney II wanted to build a trade school. Kearney, mayor of the coastal city of Hampton, Virginia, thought a new trade school would curb the high drop-out rate in a community where nearly half the residents live in poverty. He took his pitch to a city-appointed commission.

After careful questioning by commissioners, it became clear that the trade school, however compelling a proposal in its own right, would not actually solve the problem it was intended to solve. Young people were dropping out for reasons that could not be addressed by the presence of a trade school. Therefore, a trade school was not a viable solution. The answer was no.

Another day in local politics? Not exactly. The commissioners were not a panel of local business and academic leaders. They were the 24 high-school-age members of the Hampton Youth Commission. And they prepared for the meeting not by memorizing facts and figures, but by practicing how to ask questions.

Original URL

http://www.yesmagazine.org/yes/yes/issues/learn-as-you-go/the-power-of-why

http://www.yesmagazine.org/yes/yes/issues/learn-as-you-go/the-power-of-why