Method 4: Ground-breaking inquiries (Opening new paths for the dialogue and formulating new questions)

(Creating an overall view through dialogue, Opening new paths for the dialogue and formulating new questions, dialogue scene 43 and 44 or in English 25)

The goal is to learn how, while creating new understanding, to formulate questions that guide thinking and knowledge creation towards new directions. Thus, the objective is to learn to use the synthesis to open new paths for the collaborative knowledge creation. Examples of questions that guide the dialogue to new directions can be found in the method card ”The art of inquiry – the power of questions”.

Remember to consciously observe whether your actions and behaviour follow the principles of philanthropy and reciprocity!

Instructions

• the participants form groups of 3 to 4 people
• the groups create knowledge about a certain sufficiently concrete matter that they are aiming to learn, in this context, for example, how to usefully apply dialogue method cards
• the groups weave a synthesis that represents their thinking at the moment
• the participants use the second group of questions listed on the method card ”The art of inquiry – the power of questions”; these are questions that guide thinking to new directions
• before them, the group has the synthesis they weaved, and now each participant takes a turn to ask a question about the synthesis that guides thinking to new directions
• together the members of the group search for answers to each question before the next question is asked
• the group weaves a new synthesis that is based on the thinking prompted by the questions and reflections
• the groups present their reformulated syntheses to the rest of the group and introduce the most important insights

Reflection in the learning community: The whole group jointly reflects upon their experiences of the method and thinking that it caused. One useful question for this reflection is ”from the perspective of learning, what were the results or products of weaving a synthesis and the questions that took thinking to new directions?” The purpose of the reflection is that several participants, not only some, share their thinking and experiences. When the reflection part is completed, every participant has gained an understanding of how, when engaged in collaborative knowledge creation, they can take thinking to new directions by weaving a synthesis that represents their thinking at the moment and by asking ground-breaking questions.