“So often adults ask questions that go across. They need to ask downward
questions.” With a lot of humour, yet a seriousness about it, the teenagers
from Forandringsfabrikken (translates:
the change factory) confidently shared from their lives and their experiences
in being met by adults at challenging points in their lives. Forandringsfabrikken is a centre of
knowledge here in Norway, where they gather knowledge from large amounts of children
and teenagers in all kinds of situations and settings, and then write knowledge
reports that are used when decisions are made that affect children and teens
(laws, how things are done etc.). On their webpage they say that: “Knowledge from children is summarised experiences
and advice that isn’t linked to theory or analysis by adults.”
It was a fascinating and very informative hour of hearing from the three
teenagers who had so much to share, and a different perspective which I take
with me. Not just into encounters with children and teens, but also in meeting
people. I think sometimes we need to meet people in new ways; meeting them not
assuming we know, but asking questions to learn and find out. And that is where
“downward questions” comes into play.
It was explained in such a simple way: “across
questions” are when you ask questions to learn about the order of events;
questions that go from A to B. Downward
questions go into the heart and ask about the feelings and experiences,
and maybe even the background for the situation or the reasons why. Downward questions don’t assume, but ask
to learn and seek to understand. Downward
questions are more interested in the person then in the action or event.
I want to get better at downward
questions. Better at asking them in encounters with individuals, but also
in my own reflections on life and the world. I think it’s something you grown
in as you live it, and it minimises the assumptions we make by filtering what we
perceive through our own lives and experiences.
And so as I carry this new definition of something that has been
familiar, I conclude that there is hope for the future. Lots of hope if these
three teenagers are an example of the potential and depth that is found in the
coming generations.