learning@school

1. learning@school Ko te whenu hou te tau Shaping teaching and learning in the 21st century learning@school Rotorua New Zealand February 2008

2. Welcome to the Questioning workshop Presenter: Pania McVay-Stewart Email: pania@vodafone.net.nz

3. What is • relevant to • children in the 21st century? • Think about- • Organisation in • the classroom. • Noise level. • Displays • Discuss these points in your groups How do children learn?

4. Why ask questions??

5. 1.Why ask questions in the classroom? • 2.What makes a good or effective question? • 3.Who asks the majority of the questions in • your classroom? Why? • 4.How do you create an environment where • all students ask and answer questions? • 5.What strategies do you use in the classroom to encourage questioning?

6. Write down your responses to these questions on the sheets provided. • In groups collate and discuss your responses.

7. Why ? • Focus attention on a topic • Challenge students • Direct student thinking in a particular way • Reinforce learnt • material • Control behaviour of the class or individuals • Encourage students to be actively engaged in learning • Structure or guide the learning of a task • Assess Students • Revision of content Encourage reflection on learning • Evaluation • purposes • Gain feedback from students about teaching • Help students clarify their understandings Spark further questions • Model questioning and thinking • Help students make connections • Motivate student inquires • Excite interest or curiosity • Identify gaps in students’ learning • Provide opportunities for student learning through discussion

8. What is Effective Questioning ? How can teachers utilize effective questioning? • Plan questions in advance- build up to more challenging • Focus on a few carefully constructed open ended questions. • Ask one question at a time. • Consider the need for think time- Avoid the trap of answering your own questions. • Vary questioning strategies e.g. For a change make a provocative statement and wait for a response. • Ensure all students have the opportunity to respond to questions by catering for the range of learners in the class.

9. Establishing a question friendly classroom • Use the Y or T chart to explain what a question friendly • classroom would be like. • (Ask your students the same question)

11. How can teachers encourage effective student questions? • Introduce different questioning strategies • Develop student awareness of different types of questions • and the type of thinking required • Make time for student questions and celebrating them. • Providing positive feedback to student questions • Clarify students questions

12. Handling Students responses to questions • Students are often concerned about how their responses to questions might be perceived by their teacher and their peers. • Important for students to learn how to respond to each other appropriately. • Establishing trust is essential so students are prepared to take risks and their share ideas freely.

13. Active listening • Find a partner • For 1 minute, one member of the pair explains what factors contributed to them choosing teaching as a career. • Partner is listening careful but must not comment, just listen. • After a minute the person listening seeks clarification. • Then change over.

14. Different types of Questions Many types- lets simplify Open questions, Fat questions, Higher order- Invite interpretation, no preconceived response. Closed questions, Skinny questions, Lower order- non-negotiable, recited answer

15. Product, Process and Opinion Product-What, when and who questions, key ideas and facts Process-How questions associated with procedures and processes. Opinion- Why questions consider causal relationships and require explanations.

16. Cognitive Questions- questions that generate different levels of cognition

17. Questions to encourage students to think more deeply

18. Questions to encourage students to think more deeply

19. Questions that focus on emotional responses - Affective domain • These questions probe complex matters that elude • simple answers. Sometimes referred to as essential • questions (McKenzie). • Benefits of this type of questioning are they engage • students in the discussion. • e.g. What does it mean to be a good friend? • How can I be a better friend? • What does it mean to have integrity? • Who do I consider to be someone with integrity?

20. Some strategies and activities for developing effective questioning You are a reporter What’s in the box? Wear my shoes or see through my specs Wiederholds Q-matrix All views considered Creative questioning The 5 whys Three Cs and 3 Ps Stop, think and question The answer is? Open and closed questions

21. "Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -seeking information by questioning."

22. The question is how come the teacher asks all the questions when I’m the one who needs to know things. The question is why I’m supposed to have the answers to all my parent’s questions when they can’t answer mine. The question is why scientists ask ten questions for every answer they get But I have to answer seven out of ten to pass. The question is why politicians learn not to answer questions while I have to learn to answer them. The question is...

23. The question is why questions have to be answered fast at school when philosophers take years to answer them. The question is why are there so many little questions in school when Marie Curie spent her whole life on one big question. The question is why must I find answers to already answered questions when I have questions that have not yet been answered. The question is why can’t I be in charge of the questions?

24. Questions Useful resources: Godinho,S & Wilson, J 2004, Little book of big ideas: How to succeed with questioning, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton.