?
Learning to question begins with
asking the big questions to understand
our purpose in life, to understand our
sentence. For once we understand
our purpose, we focus on developing
essential skills and core knowledge that
relates to our big questions. Ask-
ing everyday if we have improved
acts as a directional trim tab for
reaching our objectives. Asking
helps us maintain altitude and
attitude.
To help children learn to
question:
We allow them the freedom and
time to ask and answer the big ques-
tions in their unique way.
We allow children to have im-
portant choices in their learning and
living activities.
We give them the gift of deep
time—time with people, time with
tools, time with nature, time with ideas-
-to explore, make connections and
develop mastery of essential skills and
knowledge.
Most importantly, and the most dif-
ficult–we have to give ourselves as adult
models of fearless questioning.
The surprising truth about what moti-
vates us, suggests that to help us find
our purpose in life, we need to ask a big
question: What’s my sentence?
Pink makes the point that our lives
can be summed up in a sentence: He
was a wonderful father who gave his
children wings. She helped people re-
gain their health. He helped everyone
he met see his or her potential.
Once we know our sentence—for
our life at this very moment–then we
know what is important to know. Our
questions become a search for vital and
true information upon which we will
build our lives.
Pink explains three qualities are
necessary for us to tap into our poten-
tial as individuals. We need to have
autonomy. We need to have a sense
of purpose. We need to have a level
of mastery of essential skills related to
our purpose.
Autonomy means we have a choice
of the activity in which we engage. The
choice is based on internal motivation
and not extrinsic rewards or punish-
ments. When we can be curious and
self-directed in the way we use
our time, we create more
powerful results than those
obtained through stick and
carrot methods. In short,
autonomy means we have
the freedom to question,
to find those answers in
our own way, and in our
own time.
The by-product of ask-
ing the big questions and knowing
our sentence is that we have a sense of
purpose that guides our actions and
provides a backdrop where we can con-
sider plans and decisions.
Understanding our purpose creates
a personal value system. As we make
our independent choices for activities
central to our purpose, we start on a
lifetime path of mastery.
To keep us on-track, Pink offers a
little question: Was I better today than
yesterday?
www.mybermudaparent.com
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