A Brief Take on “I Don’t Know”
CaliforniaTeacherGuy has gotten deserved attention for his rejection of a phrase his students - and really, everyone’s - use too often: “I don’t know.” Joanne Jacobs picked up on his thoughts and even EdWeek’s BlogBoard has rightly turned a keen eye to CTG’s commitment to “Outlawing Fear.”
I wrote a lengthy comment on his site last night, got distracted near the end, navigated away from the page and *poof* - gone. I’ll address it here instead.
CTG writes:
“Many of my students are so afraid of making mistakes that they don’t even try to formulate intelligent responses to my questions. When I ask them their opinion about a poem or a story we have just read, they automatically reply, “I don’t know.” They seem to think that thinking is too hard, and “I don’t know” is an easy way out.”
It isn’t news that ignorance is a crutch on which too many rest too often. I thought so much of CTG’s article because I appreciate his refusal to accept the complacency that plagues a disinterested generation. That disinterest is justified by “I don’t know” and encouraged by its acceptance; CTG is taking steps to remedy both of these problems. I’d like to weigh in on the proposed replacement for “I don’t know,” which is, “I’m not sure, but I think…”
The basic argument against “I don’t know” is that it stems from a student’s fear of thought and fear of being wrong. These two conditions are an unfortunate reality for many students. Those two fears, made worse by many students having been ill-equipped to overcome them, push and pull at a mind that fatigues quickly and produces, “I don’t know.” It’s a shot of intellectual morphine for an ailing mind.
Most every time I’ve replied, “I don’t know,” it’s because I haven’t taken the time to think about the issue or haven’t put the time into researching it. Occasionally I’ll do both and still not know, but then the “I don’t know” is followed by an explanation of why I still don’t know. That’s why we need to replace, “I don’t know” with:
“I haven’t thought about it yet.”
The admission that one hasn’t thought about a topic is an important step toward erasing the “I don’t knows.” It isn’t meant to shame a student; instead, it recognizes the reality of the student’s response to a situation. Saying that one hasn’t thought about it conveys two things: 1) An honest assessment of why there isn’t an answer and 2) recognition that if one thinks about the question at hand, they’ll have an answer. Asking the question defines the problem; points 1 and 2 show a student how to go about it.
“I’m not sure, but I think…” and its variants convey a relativism that is inappropriate for most contexts in education. We need to fill our students with the confidence and tools to answer a question; starting a response with an admission that undermines its certainty and uses a justification of its value based simply on the fact that it has been thought can become as much of a destructive crutch as “I don’t know.”
“I haven’t thought about it yet” or, as Darren relates from his time at the Naval Academy, “I’ll find out,” supports the education that we’re charged with delivering. It recognizes the problem at hand, focuses on the responsibility to solve it and then commits to that process. It’s an honest, transparent and productive way to handle a question.
“I’m not sure, but I think…” sounds like a slightly more sophisticated way of saying “I feel..”, which, to anyone with a brain, is about the most grating phrase one can hear in response to a question. They’re both intellectual cop-outs.
I’ll take “I’m not sure but I think…” or “I feel that…” or “I think that…” over “I don’t know” any day. What I can do without after hearing it about fifteen-gazillion times is, “It’s like… or “I think like it’s… like something like that… like.” The word “like” has become the “umm” or the
“ahh” of the 21st Century.
Another thing… me thinks Colin should stay far away from teaching kids, “Intellectually speaking that is.”
Colin is right - “I don’t know” is an intellectual cop-out. Recognizing that reality doesn’t mean that one has to say it aloud or berate a kid’s intellect. There’s nothing to suggest that Colin advocated that or any other caustic approach. Calling a spade a spade doesn’t mean that you have to beat someone over the head with that spade when you’re done.
With “like,” I usually hear someone out and let them use “like” as many times as they want. Then I say, “You’ve told me what it’s like, now tell me what it is.” It works well.
I’m being goaded… *rimshot*.
To clear up the confusion, I think “I don’t know” is intellectually honest when used, well… honestly. There have been a myriad of times in my life when I was asked to answer a question for which I didn’t know the solution. So when I said, “I don’t know”, I just didn’t know, and depending on the circumstances I’d go on and explain why I didn’t know.
Whereas “I feel..” or “I’m not sure, but I think..” is often employed by those who don’t know but wouldn’t mind fronting like they do. I’m not saying these phrases don’t have their place. There’s times when they’re relevant. I’m talking about chronic usage. The “I feel..” crowd is pretty prominent. Not only do they use that term a lot, but many have the tendency to end their statements with an upward inflection (i.e. a tone of questioning). Constantly answering questions with “I feel..” is a completely safe and cowardly approach to giving an answer. It’s a sure sign of the same problem CTG has with his students using “I don’t know” - fear of being wrong. I’d much rather have a student give me a straight, honest response without creating some vast web of emotion that guards against the cruel, binary reality of right or wrong.
“Like” is a whole separate issue, one I even catch myself doing from time to time. It’s a problem, for sure, but it’s in a whole separate class. It’s a lot more like “you know..”. Mostly they’re just stalling techniques for people who aren’t great at communicating directly. Of course, there are the wonderful cases where the worlds collide and you get a long response rife with “I feel like, you know, like.. maybe this is like, what the answer is?” Good times.
Colin—
I like feel better now.
I thought you might be going down the Dr. Laura/Rush Limbaugh road of implying “feeling” about something is somehow indicative of liberalism plus having the patience of a flea—my bad.
Like, you know, I feel you about that whole like thing being like “you know”… You know? It is the “you know” of the new millennium.
You were being goaded… Whaaat… I never… How could you think such a thing?
I second Darren’s statement about his response, “I’ll find out.”
As an Intelligence Analyst, one of the worst things you can do is “shoot from the hip.” Know what you know. If you don’t know - say so. A commander would much rather know that you don’t know than you tell him something that is just “shooting from the hip.”
Likewise, if you tell a commander (or anyone), “I’ll find out.” You darn well better go find out! And get back to that individual as soon as possible.
The reason analysts shoot from the hip is they think they should know and will be reprimanded for not knowing. This all goes to my leadership and analyst philosophy I posted at my blog. Any good analyst (or student) will anticipate what questions will be asked and look for the answers prior to the presentation and therefore won’t be surprised and have to say, “I don’t know.” By the same token, they shouldn’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know” if they truly don’t know.
I believe much of this thinking can be transferred to education and students as well. I use it with my professors and while reading attempt to determine what questions they may ask in class so I can answer them or so I can seek further clarification or elaboration.
Eric,
The commitment factor is exactly the reason why I think “I haven’t thought about it yet” or “I’ll find out” are so important. There’s no shame in not knowing something - if you don’t, you take the necessary steps to figure it out. It’s important to reinforce that concept often.
agreed!
My priest at Mass this weekend began his sermon with a similar premise. He had read an article in the Houston Chronicle about a guy in Russia (a politician, I believe) who had passed around a list of phrases that he had declared banned from usage in his office. Among them were, “I don’t know,” “That’s not my job,” and “Who’s to say?”
It’s one thing to admit that you don’t know something, but I agree that way too many people use it as an intellectual crutch. They’re not saying that they don’t know, but rather that they don’t care enough to even think about formulating an answer. And that’s so incredibly frustrating to a teacher…