This is an interesting phenomenon that happens very often in most of our classes. We ask our students questions and then we probe them until we get the answer that we have in our mind which I'd like to call here as 'cat in the head'.

What are the implications of such a practice?

First of all, the students over a period of time, develop this feeling that they need to give the answer we're looking for rather the answer they think and this leads to stifling creativity and free thinking in the class. Education should liberate students and make them stand on their own feet as rational beings. But when we teachers give out a message that there's an answer in our head which the students need to figure out they feel as if their answers, unless those answers are what we're looking for, are not valid killing the vedry life of the classroom.

Secondly, we're missing a great opportunity to understand what our students think and possibly the sources of such thinking (which in many ways could help us to plan out our lessons in a better way) if we run after the cat in our head. Rather than negating students' reply because that's not what we're looking for and if we could delve a while into the sources of such knowledge and make students realise that we're interested to know not only what they think but also why they think that way then that would definitely make them think and act more in the classroom. If we can be patient with the students then we would be surprised to see how different and varied the students thinking can be in the classroom.

Thirdly and most importantly by keeping the cat in the head aside for a while we're giving the students an excellent opportunity to think - especially our insistence for the reason for their answers can develop critical thinking skills in them where they refuse to be passive takers of knowledge but become active creators which is in deed what education systems should aim at.