Living the questions

It occurred to me this morning that all content is actionable if we know how to question it. Rather than fix the educators or the instructional designs to be more actionable, we can all simply become more effective learners. Rather than finally "get it right", we can remain in process, continually exploring and living the questions. We can all "go with the flow" of other people playing different roles. Here's how I envision living the questions when I pretend that we could somehow articulate our unconscious thought processes.

When we're faced with someone acting like a content provider, we can question what were being given to read, hear, watch or look at:

• How does this tie into things I already know to do, concepts I already understand and experiences I already have under my belt?
• What does this mean to me within my particular frames of reference, past history and varied stages of my personal development?
• How can I use this in my world where I'm solving problems, resolving conflicts and changing my mind?
• What better questions does this give me to explore, reframe my own inquiries and challenge my own preconceptions?

When we're participating with someone playing the part of an activity director, we can question what we're doing and what comes of it:

• What happens to my state of mind, body or feelings when I do this as required, differently from last time, or like someone else is acting?
• How does this set-up make progress, function or take on a life of its own -- when I do my part?
• What results do I get when I follow the instructions, make a deliberate effort or try to get a change to happen?
• How can I improve my approach, try something different or build on what I've done so far?

When we're conversing with someone who's acting like a tutor, we can question what we're realizing during the process of talking things out:

• How does what I'm hearing differ from what's important to me, how I see things and what difference this makes to me?
• What am I being shown that I don't already see, that I'm assuming otherwise or that I rule out as inconceivable?
• How am I feeling amidst this conversation about my own confidence, our common ground and my trust of the other person?
• What does our discussion give me to contribute, tag on to, appreciate and question?

When we're observing another learner playing the part of a perpetual beginner, we can question the example being demonstrated:

• What is this showing me about how to fuel my own curiosity, create a spirit of adventure and love the process of learning?
• How can I be like this other person, follow this example and catch onto this contagious competence?
• What premises am I being shown to come from the same place, live inside a similar story and look out from a common vantage point?
• How can my own learning process benefit from all these questions, ways to deepen my own inquiries and hypotheses in need of further investigations?

When we're living the questions like this, every thing we take in is actionable.