The value of the student’s question is supreme. The best initial response to a question is not to answer it, per se, but to validate it, protect it, support it, and make aspace for it. Like a blossom just emerging, a question is vulnerable and delicate. Adirect answer can extinguish a question if you’re not careful. But if you nourish theblossom, it will grow and give fruit in the form of insight as well as more questions.In short, a question needs to be nurtured more than answered. It should be givencenter stage, admired, relished, embraced, and sustained.