The Tikkun Project
Lesson
4
Sharing Important Lessons That Have Been Passed Down to Us
Concept
A powerful interview question is one designed specifically to surface a value, belief, or life-lesson, not just a fact.
Focus Question
How can we uncover and share the important lessons that have been passed down to us?
Knowledge & Understanding Goals
Language, Strand B (Oral and Non-Verbal Communication), Grade 8: Formulate and revise interview questions to elicit meaningful, values-based responses from a community member.
Thinking & Learning Skills
ATL — Communication Skills: Revising questions to elicit deeper responses.
ATL — Research Skills: Documenting and synthesizing an oral history.
Learner Profile: Communicators, Caring.
Context
Moves the unit from identity-in-the-abstract to identity-in-lived-story students conduct a real interview, generating the raw material for their individual contribution to the culminating Collaborative Educational Experience chosen in Lesson 3.
Lesson Outline
LEARNING WHAT MAKES A QUESTION POWERFUL
Explain that to prepare for a conversation with an Elder, family member, or friend, students need questions with real potential to uncover an important story — one that explains a cultural value, belief, or custom; is relevant to the audience who'll eventually hear it; and supports mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among people from diverse backgrounds.
REVISING WEAK QUESTIONS INTO STRONG ONES
Show a set of fact-seeking questions alongside value-seeking revisions: "Where and when were you born?" becomes "Tell me about what was happening in the world that shaped the place where you were born." "What holidays did you celebrate as a child?" becomes "What are the important or memorable traditions connected to the holidays you celebrated?" "Tell me a bit about your family" becomes "How did the people in your family shape who you are today?" "What's a life-lesson you want to share?" becomes "What are two of the most important life-lessons you hope to pass on to the next generation, and what makes them important?" Ask: how might the answers to the revised questions differ from the answers to the originals?
Students write three questions of their own, then trade with a partner to revise each other's questions toward richer, more value-seeking answers.
CHOOSING OUR BEST QUESTIONS
Record all generated questions visibly. Each student selects 5-8 questions they're genuinely curious about and believe will lead to learning something important — not just the ones that seem easiest to ask.
MEETING AND DOCUMENTING
Students meet with their chosen interview subject — who this is depends on which Critical Challenge variant is being run this year (an Elder from a partner school, a family member or friend, or the single shared guest in the guest-expert model). Students record the conversation by notes, audio, video, or another effective method.
SHARING WHAT WE LEARNED
After documenting, students present the important details to a small group and share initial ideas for how they'll turn what they learned into a piece for the collaborative experience.
CREATING OUR CONTRIBUTION
Students create their individual piece for the culminating experience, in whatever form the class's chosen format (Lesson 3) calls for. Depending on the format, students might also write an artist's statement explaining what they learned and how it shaped their contribution.
Notes for Teaching and Evaluation
Modelling a weak-to-strong question revision before students revise their own — the same structure used for interview questions in the Poverty and Immigration units — reinforces that this is a transferable skill recurring across the Tikkun curriculum, not a technique specific to this unit.
The three explicit "important story" criteria (explains a value, is audience-relevant, supports mutual understanding) give students an actual filter for selecting their final questions, rather than leaving "pick your favourites" as the only guidance.