The Best Way to Answer a Question When You Don’t Know
There are incredible moments when students ask you insightful questions. And there are terrifying moments when you realize that you don’t know the answer to these questions. Let’s talk about how to deal with those situations.
I am writing this from a teacher’s perspective. But I do believe that these ideas can be applied in a parent-child or boss-employee relationships as well.
In this article, I wrote about how important it is to encourage students to ask questions. Here I want to talk about what to do when you don’t know the answer to the question.
How to look smart
It feels that we need to know all the answers to all the questions. We are afraid to look silly in front of our pupils and lose their respect and trust.
Unfortunately, often the teacher feels the need to say something to show that they are worth their “teacher”, or “professor” title. And this is where the danger zone is.
The answer will be very convoluted and confusing; it will frequently include scary words (specialized, narrow terms from the field). That will lead to the student not understanding the answer, and how can they? On top of that, the student will feel stupid.
On the other hand, the student will think that the subject is difficult and the teacher is smart because they understand it.
It is easy to fall into this behavior for a teacher. I still remember the feelings of insecurity every time I didn’t know the answer straight away. You feel immense pressure to seem smart and knowledgeable.
Buy some time
Most of the time I did the “we will talk about this next time” routine. I felt it was better than spewing out tons of words and confusing the students even further. And I had to prepare a lot for that next lesson to explain what was happening.
This is a good way out. It does have major downsides thou. First, it is still very stressful for a teacher. Second, by the next lesson, the student cares dramatically less about their question, or they have forgotten it, so you lose valuable momentum and students lose interest.
There is a better way to deal with questions to which you don’t know the answer.
Honesty is the best policy
Just be honest. Say something like:
Hey, That’s a good question. I don’t know the answer. Let’s figure it out together.
And then work together with students to find out what the answer is. Show them different tools that they can use to understand and learn things. Discuss the subject, and use Google and YouTube to find out more about it. Talk about the fact that if something is in a video that doesn’t guarantee it’s true. And start teaching them how to verify the information they get.
This approach promotes much more involvement in students. They see that it is okay not to know something. Most importantly, they see that one can always figure things out and how to do that.
This doesn’t diminish their opinion of the teacher. It elevates it.
Always remember that the teacher’s job is not to know everything. It is to teach, to help students realize their potential, and to make them believe in themselves.
Conclusion
Admitting that you don’t know something shows pupils that it’s okay not to know. And you can teach them how to figure things out. This skill transcends each subject and will help people no matter who they decide to become later.
Be grateful for the questions to which you don’t know the answer. They allow you to teach so much more than just your subject. You can improve your relationship with your students and empower them to search for answers themselves.
Each time I admit to my pupils that I don’t know something and we figure it out together, they feel better about themselves. That is one of the goals of teaching.
What advice do you have for dealing with difficult questions?
Thank you for your time!
