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Monday, June 09, 2008

Jello, X-rays and Education: Asking the Right Questions

I recently had a conversation with a man named Tom who made fortune from extracting silver from old x-ray film. Curious to find out how he got into this line of work I pursued his story. He told me that the practice of extracting silver from x-ray film was complicated, costly and dangerous since it involved the use of cyanide to beak down the x-ray celluloid so the silver could be extracted.

One day he was in the kitchen making red Jello with fresh pineapple. He noticed that the Jello would not set. Curious, he investigated and discovered that pineapple contained a protelytic enzyme known as bromelain. Bromaelain prevented the Jello from setting. Tom wondered if Bromelain might have a similar effect on x-ray celluloid thus eliminating the need for cyanide. It worked!

What is fascinating about Tom's discovery is it begins with a question. Why won't the Jello set? Rather than toss the lot and start over Tom's question drove him to find the answer - bromelain. It could have ended there but Tom had another question. Could bromelain do for x-ray celluloid what it did to Jello thus eliminating the dangerous cyanide from the process? The answer - yes.

Tom's story is a lesson for educators everywhere. Too often educators focus on what they are teaching and lose the process of learning. This is the problem in many educational systems around the world that teach to the test and narrow the scope of learning to data transmission and acquisition. To its detriment the church has followed the path of public education.

The right data and right answers are important but equally important are the right questions.
Tom's story shows us that the right question can lead to the right information and the right answer. Educators in the church need to encourage curiosity and questioning; trusting that the right answer(truth) will come to meet the needs of the question.

By the way, for his curiosity Tom was rewarded with a patent and a penny for every pound of recycled x-ray film. A small question turned into a big payday.

Dennis Humphrey
The Accidental Educator

Comments on "Jello, X-rays and Education: Asking the Right Questions"

 

Blogger IfallslibraryDiane said ... (4:35 PM, June 12, 2008) : 

Now my question is how do we encourage the church, or more specifically in my case, youth leaders to not be afraid of questions, to allow questioners to explore the questions, the answers and see where they lead.

I have two children who often don't feel very welcome in youth groups because my husband and I have encouraged their questions from the day they were born. My oldest in particular is struggling with church at the moment due to being made unwelcome.

 

Blogger Stacey Littlefield said ... (8:46 AM, June 13, 2008) : 

Dennis, great post. So many of us these days, I think, are afraid of questions. And, even if we get to the questions, we're afraid of what might happen if no one has an answer, or, at least THE ANSWER we were hoping for. Thanks for the story and for making time to tell it.

 

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