Too Shy to Ask, Lost in Deep Learning

The proverb ‘malu bertanya sesat di jalan’ (too shy to ask, lost on the road) was born long before the digital era. Yet, its message is increasingly urgent. Many students now easily find answers, but are not necessarily brave and capable of asking the right questions. Without asking, knowledge easily lodges in the head, but struggles to become understanding. In Deep Learning, this situation must not be allowed to persist. A silent student is not always one who understands; they could be confused, afraid of being wrong, or have yet to find a reason to learn.

Asking is not merely a way to obtain answers from the teacher. A question signifies that a person has encountered a problem, realised the limits of their knowledge, and is then driven to overcome it. When a student asks, ‘Why does this formula work?’, ‘What are the consequences if the conditions are changed?’, or ‘Is there another explanation?’, they are performing intellectual work. They are not accepting knowledge as a finished product, but rather testing, connecting, and reconstructing it.

Chin and Osborne (2008) assert that student questions are an important source for meaningful learning and scientific inquiry. Therefore, a good classroom is not merely full of correct answers, but provides a safe space for honest questions. Unfortunately, a culture of questioning is not always alive in schools. In many classrooms, the teacher remains the centre of questioning, while students are only asked to answer. The teacher asks to check if students remember the material; students answer briefly; then the lesson moves on to the next problem. This pattern may produce an orderly class, but not necessarily a learner. Students learn to guess the answer the teacher wants, rather than building curiosity.

Even more concerning, some students are reluctant to ask questions for fear of being labelled inattentive, less intelligent, or disruptive to the class rhythm. This fear makes silence appear as discipline, when it is often a sign that learning is not yet truly alive. In Deep Learning, questioning should be present throughout the entire learning experience: understanding, applying, and reflecting. At the understanding stage, questions help students distinguish what is known from what is not yet understood. When applying knowledge, questions guide them to read the context, compare options, and anticipate consequences. At the reflection stage, questions make students look back at their thinking process: which parts were successful, what assumptions were wrong, and what strategies need improvement. Thus, questioning fosters metacognition, the ability to learn how to learn.

The academic paper on Deep Learning positions conscious, meaningful, and joyful learning experiences as the path to quality education; a culture of questioning is one of its drivers (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, 2025). For students, the function of questioning is at least threefold. First, questions ignite curiosity. Curiosity ensures that learning does not stop at being an obligation, but becomes a need to understand the world. Second, questions train critical reasoning. Students learn not to quickly trust information, but to examine sources, reasons, evidence, and possible alternative viewpoints. Third, questions help students build independence. They do not always depend on the teacher’s explanation because they are able to recognise learning bottlenecks and find ways to overcome them.

However, the responsibility for building a culture of questioning should not be entirely placed on students. Teachers must also ask questions, especially of themselves. Before teaching, a teacher needs to ask: what prior knowledge do the students already have? Which concepts might be difficult? What real experiences are close to their lives? During the learning process, the teacher needs to ask: who is not yet engaged? Why are there incorrect answers? Did the error arise from a misconception, the language of the problem, or an inappropriate learning strategy? After the lesson, the teacher’s reflective questions become a compass for improvement: did the students truly understand, or can they only repeat the explanation?

A teacher who enjoys asking questions will not rush to judge a wrong answer as a failure. They see it as pedagogical data. An incorrect answer can open a path to understanding the student’s way of thinking. From there, the teacher can choose more relevant explanations, examples, tasks, or support. Conversely, a teacher who feels they already have all the answers tends to teach in one direction. They may deliver the material smoothly, but are not sensitive enough to what is happening in the students’ minds. Learning ultimately becomes a delivery, not an encounter.

Therefore, schools need to build an ethics of questioning. No question should be laughed at. No student should be humiliated for not yet understanding. Questions do not always have to be voiced orally; they can emerge through small notes, group discussions, question boxes, reflection journals, or healthily managed digital forums. Teachers can provide wait time after asking a question, invite students to formulate questions, and value the thinking process, not just quick answers. A joyful classroom is not one without difficulties, but one where students are brave enough to face them together.

The proverb ‘malu bertanya sesat di jalan’ should not be interpreted solely as advice for children to diligently seek information. In Deep Learning, it is a call to build intellectual courage. Students need to be brave enough to admit they do not yet know; teachers need to be brave enough to question their teaching methods; schools need to be brave enough to review habits that silence students’ voices. The learning path is not always straight, but honest questions will guide us so we do not get lost. From questions, understanding is born.